"State Of Emergency - When The Wrongs Of The Few Outweigh The Rights Of The Many"
The Delaware County, Pa. delawareonline has reported the City of Chester, Pa. (pop. about 36,000) is under a state of emergency following a fourth killing in eight days. This includes the death of a 2 year old boy, a week ago.
Chester Mayor Wendell Butler Jr. proclaimed the state of emergency on Saturday, to begin that night and run through Thursday morning, and he plans to ask the City Council to extend it for a month. During that time, no one is allowed on the street from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and, no assembly of three or more persons is allowed without a permit. However, this is only in effect over four areas of the city that cover a few blocks of territory each.
The Delaware County, Pa. delawareonline has reported the City of Chester, Pa. (pop. about 36,000) is under a state of emergency following a fourth killing in eight days. This includes the death of a 2 year old boy, a week ago.
Chester Mayor Wendell Butler Jr. proclaimed the state of emergency on Saturday, to begin that night and run through Thursday morning, and he plans to ask the City Council to extend it for a month. During that time, no one is allowed on the street from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and, no assembly of three or more persons is allowed without a permit. However, this is only in effect over four areas of the city that cover a few blocks of territory each.
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Is it just me or does this seem like a rather ignorant, if not discriminatory, reaction to events that can not possibly be controlled by such a measure? It almost seems to ring of, "out of sight, out of mind", suggesting the idea that if you can't be seen, you can't do evil?
The fact that the S.O.E. and it's rules are in place over the four areas of town, and not the entire town, will bring protests of discrimination, I'm sure, at least from those four areas. How can the citizens of those areas be forced into curfews, or denied the right to assemble, while the remainder of the city can enjoy liberty?
The fact that the S.O.E. and it's rules are in place over the four areas of town, and not the entire town, will bring protests of discrimination, I'm sure, at least from those four areas. How can the citizens of those areas be forced into curfews, or denied the right to assemble, while the remainder of the city can enjoy liberty?
Those other folks, the remainder of the city, should be thinking long and hard about this "S.O.E." and the implications it presents. They should be outraged. And they should be taking that outrage straight to Mayor Butler with demands he lift this declaration of emergency and put city resources to better use. Otherwise, he may not feel any compunction in suspending the rights of citizens in larger areas of the city, when he can't come up with proper, long sighted answers to short sighted events.
MikeH.
MikeH.
It just seems like he "jumped the gun" (yes, pun intended) on this. IMO, you don't call a SOE due to some random, unrelated murders.
ReplyDeleteDeclaring Martial Law and enforcing a curfew is for wide-spread mob violence (or a disaster). They moved to this solution much too quickly.
I've never understood rulings like this. You're going to pass a law to keep people from doing illegal things? Murder is already illegal, and it just seems hard to believe that anyone willing to go kill people would decide not to because of a loitering law. So what good does the 9 PM curfew law do?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the only possible reason for such a law is to pile on the charges if they arrest someone. Throw so many charges at them that something has to stick.
It's a power trip with some drug damaged brain cells mixed in. And I think we will be seeing more of this kind of government overkill.
ReplyDeleteMikeH.
The sad part is that every police department in any city knows who are in gangs and what they are doing. But the DA only wants slam dunk cases so these criminals slide until they kill someone. If those who are paid to protect the citizens would make that their priority and arrest gang members every time they break any law maybe ordinary citizens would be safer.
ReplyDelete