4th of July from Prison

 All,

I hope this 4th of July finds you all well.  It's been an interesting experience today, inside prison walls, experiencing a holiday which celebrates the birth of our nation and the shared Freedoms, Rights and Privileges that this nation was created to represent and protect for her people.  

My experience that has lead me into these walls has been interesting to say the least. Most of all, what has been interesting was to see my assumptions about what our nation is and does, be challenged and in many ways disproven.  You know what they say when you "Assume", you make and "Ass" out of "U" and "ME!

When I studied Political Science, I grew a great appreciation for the principles that lead to the founding of our nation.  In many ways, the revolution to free the 13 colonies from England, was not so much about what we wanted to become, as much as it was about what WE, 'the People', did not want to BE.  We did not want to be a society of people who had limited freedoms, we did not want to be dictated to about rules of commerce beyond the reasonable, we did not want to have our private lives invaded by government speculation. We wanted to be free of false imprisonment, bills of attainder and many more invasions the British monarch imposed upon the colonists.  The Americas were populated with people who came through ventures such as Jamestown, seeking economic opportunity in the New World. It was founded by people who were brought by providence to places like Plymouth Rock, seeking freedom from religious persecutions, to be able to determine, as they saw fit, what was morally right or wrong based on the dictates of their conscious.  Some combination of those two things, for hundreds of years now, have caused people to abandon the land of their nativity and join the Union of States, which represents liberation from what we don't want to be, and an opportunity to chart our own course.  

I myself have ancestry that immigrated to the Americas through BOTH Jamestown in its first decade and also landed with the Pilgrims on Plymouth rock itself.  I have an ancestor who at the age of 43, left his farm and family to join the North Carolina Cavalry Militia to fight in the Revolutionary war itself.  The cause of America runs deep within my veins.  

From this prison, I reflect upon that which Americans assume.  We assume our rights are unalienable. But, when we encounter the criminal justice system, as it is currently constituted, we often find that our assumptions do indeed make an ASS out of U and ME...Many a soldier has signed up for military or other's for public service, under the premise that they were protecting our sacred rights. However, the place where protection is needed most, inside a courtroom, those rights, secured by blood of patriots, are often surrendered and waived as if they had no importance at all.  Rights enumerated and secured by the people, as a bargain to the passing of the Constitution, called the Bill of Rights,  include things like the right to freedom of speech, assembly, and press.  The right to self defense, the right to due process, privacy and to be secure in their person, papers, homes and things. A right to counsel, to confront your accuser, to settle claims made against you, and the right to a speedy trial, to name a few.  

These rights, in many ways, are those rights that people need inside a courtroom, more than any other place! Yet in our current justice system, the moment a criminal defendant is charged he, 1) waives his right to confront his accuser, 2) is told not to speak publicly and freely, 3) given limits of association and advised not to talk to the press, 4) his right to self defense is stripped, 5) his right to privacy is curtailed by pre-trial conditions often including home visits, and other invasive medical interventions, 6) the right to a speedy trial is almost always immediately waved, 7) a right to a trial by jury is waived because the 'trial tax' plea deals are sought to make the pain go away.These are just a few of the rights that are almost immediately surrendered or waived because the mechanisms of the system demands it.  For those who are brave enough to 'stand on their rights' the consequences can be severe...

The minority communities in this country have some very low sentiments when it comes to patriotic fervor. They have complained for decades about the unjust system. Having gone through this myself, I can say their complaints are not unjustified.  Until this touches you, it's hard to comprehend how you feel when your rights evaporate before your eyes.  ONLY someone who benefits from this system in some way, or contributes to its continuation would make arguments to the contrary.  As my defense attorney said at one point, when I pointed out how 'my rights' seemed non-existent, "I won't defend the system".  

Enjoy the freedom you do have, we still are a free country. I do believe with all my heart that liberty trumps all, and over time it's cause will prevail.  There is a lot to work on to live up to the blood spilt and sacrifices that were made to set up the principles we must strive to live up to.  I make no excuses for the prisoner, myself included, but I do think about how our system of justice can be improved, to live up to the ethos and principles our nation assumes to have. 

"He who stands on his rights, injures no one" 

Happy 4th of July.  

Taylor