Justice at home

A story broke Nov. 29 about the plight of a man in Louisiana. Pedro Parra-Sanchez, a legal immigrant and resident of California who moved to New Orleans to assist in the Katrina recovery efforts, was arrested more than a year ago on charges of battery. \nIn the following 13 months, he was "lost" in the prison system, never seeing legal counsel or receiving timely execution of justice. He had limited contact with his family, who remained in California without the resources to call, visit or pursue that justice. Without his income, his family was unable to pay rent for their house. A pro bono lawyer discovered his story from tips from the other inmates at St. Charles Parish jail in St. Charles Parish, La. \nThis past week he was finally given a trial and will be allowed to leave New Orleans while the court considers the dismissal of his case. Justice is being served to an extent, but how will the government undo all of the suffering Parra-Sanchez and his family sustained?\nAccording to the law department at Tulane University, this abhorrent situation is not unique to Parra-Sanchez, rather, the post-Katrina atmosphere has encouraged such unconstitutional slips. This glaring blight on the justice system is evident of a deeply systemic need for continued restoration efforts in Katrina-stricken areas. It is the government's foremost responsibility to do whatever it takes to righteously preserve justice. In this situation, that would involve a deep commitment to completing infrastructure restoration in Louisiana. \nWith each passing day, the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are also held without justice. It is true they are not citizens and, therefore, not protected by our Constitution. It is also true that there is a legal precedent to hold "enemy combatants" indefinitely and with minimal rights. However, diplomacy, morality and international legitimacy require a modernization of that precedent. According to Amnesty International, there are men and women who have been detained for years without formal charges. They have families and lives. But our government believes that those lives aren't legitimate enough to merit lawful investigation. There are young people interred there whose detainment began when they were still minors, a direct violation of the internationally accepted Convention on the Rights of the Child (an accord that all countries except for us and Somalia have ratified). Their possible guilt or innocence is fairly irrelevant at this point, however, because the proper execution of justice is paramount regardless.\nMany voices are concerned with human rights violations in far off lands, criticizing our government and the international community for not being adequately involved "over there." I urge these groups not to neglect the problems at home and to call for more government support for education, health care and infrastructure here in our own country. The ongoing injustice perpetuated by those whom we allow to govern will forever plunge us deeper into the abyss of hypocrisy until we stand up and say, "No more!" We must investigate our justice system and re-evaluate our stance on foreign detainment, for it is profoundly hypocritical to crusade against the bad guys abroad if we allow thugs to run things at home.