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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Break the law like a man!

Awww, them mean old policemans is spoling the widdle kids' fun:

The multi-agency "raid" on an off-campus house Sept. 21, in which 37 Notre Dame students were arrested for underage drinking, must be one of the most colossal wastes of resources in St. Joseph's County history. According to reports, members of SUDS, St. Joseph's County Police, Indiana Excise Police and the Indiana State Police joined forces - not to break up a crack ring, but to arrest University of Notre Dame students who were drinking (gasp!) beer out of a keg. Yes, underage drinking is illegal, and yes, authorities are there to enforce the law. Nevertheless, instead of writing a few citations and breaking up the party, a patrolling officer felt it necessary to call in pretty much everyone but Patton's First Infantry Division.

[. . .]

I hope the residents of South Bend will have enough sense to demand that their valuable police resources be spent on combating violent crime instead of repressing common college student behavior.

College students, meet Mahatma Gandhi: "When we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of the law-givers but we suffer and do not submit to the laws. That we should obey laws whether good or bad is a new-fangled notion. There was no such thing in former days. The people disregarded those laws they did not like and suffered the penalties for their breach." If the no-drinking-by-minors laws are oppressing you, disobey them. If you get caught disobeying them, pay the penalties prescribed. No whining allowed.

Lesson over. You may now go back to your next how-to-save-the-planet class.

Comments

Doug
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 9:40am

Strict enforcement of all laws to the full extent permissible might be a healthy thing in the long run -- we might end up just passing the laws that are necessary and prescribing only those penalties which are appropriate.

I'm probably being delusional though.

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