RIP: Martin Lee Anderson

Here is a comment I posted to the Miami Herald after the 7 counselors and a nurse were found not guilty of any charges in the death of a child in their care:

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I cannot believe that behavior that would (and recently HAS) put a parent in jail was ever legal if done by a state employee to an incarcerated child, that is, a child that cannot legally resist or run away to avoid it. I really don't care whether the "counselors" caused the death. This was child abuse if ever I saw it. I can maybe excuse brutality toward an adult in prison under certain circumstances, but there is no way anyone can ever convince me that institutionalized and proceduralized brutality against a child is either moral or legal.

We call them children because they have not matured. Juvenile justice is separate from adult justice because we don't want to reinforce criminal behavior in children by exposing them to hardened adult criminals who would carelessly brutalize and dominate them.

So we expose them to brutal, domineering, uncaring "counselors" instead? God, that is pathetic.

It is insane to believe that legalizing assault and battery on a child is in any way going to have a positive effect on that child. If those "counselors" believed they were helping those kids, then I have to conclude that the counselors are nothing but savages, whose actions were orchestrated and condoned by a sadistic control freak called DJJ.

I understand that the verdict was correct under the law, this makes the point that the law was insufficient or the charges were not the correct ones, not that those defendants did nothing wrong.

I do hope that everyone responsible for this tragedy and all those who supported the bootcamp idea can sleep at night, knowing that there was NO love shown to Martin Anderson in the last hours of consciousness of his too short life, not even tough love.

Just think, the last words he heard were in the nature of demands for more from his broken body. No one told him it was OK to rest now.

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It is absolutely inconceivable to me that these people were so convinced that Anderson was malingering that they failed to recognize clear warning signals of medical distress and continued their abuse well past any point where it was warranted under any rational standard.

I regard this as yet another example of the culture of "Protect and Serve" becoming the culture of "Endanger and Dominate." This belief that officials can do no wrong is myopic and counter-productive. Some day it will be everyone's children that are routinely subjected to institutionalized abuse every day for the purpose of ensuring the continuation of the power of the government over the people.

Folks, our Constitution clearly says that we, the people, are the source of the power that our government wields on our behalf. When that power is misused and abused by the government, we, the people, are ultimately responsible. Every police brutality case, every needless death of an innocent is the direct result of our failure to exercise our personal responsibility to monitor and control our government.

Martin Anderson was a troubled child, no doubt. His parents are not going to win any awards, either. But, if being human and making mistakes is a death penalty crime, then we should all be in a boot camp, being treated abusively as he was, just waiting for the moment that we are pushed past our level of tolerance, to be further abused until death releases us from the torture.

In short, Martin Anderson was murdered by we, the people, by our malingering at the polls and our absorption with meaningless diversions. We are guilty of letting sadists and monsters beguile us with fairy tales of "success" where there exists only failure and guilt. Ours.

The sweet siren song that is indifference can easily be couched in the religious belief that evil manifests a physical existence here on earth. If you hear that call, tread carefully, for it could be your life that is next in jeopardy.

Corrosion of Conformity song 'White Noise':

When They Cracked The Whip, Nothing Was Said

When The Flames Burned, Nothing Was Said

When They Notched The Barrels, Nothing Was Said

When The Bays Opened, Nothing Was Said

When The Dogs Were Set Loose, Nothing Was Said

When The Colors Run Red, Nothing Was Said

When Innocents Cried In The Face Of The Guilty

No One Said Anything

This was likely influenced by Pastor Martin Niemöller, who wrote:

Original

Translation

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich nicht protestiert; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

The above quotes are from wikipedia: First they came...

conhed

I am shocked! Cop goes postal, kills 6 young people.

20 year old deputy kills 6 in jealous rage


Just damn. I would never have believed it. Someone saw fit to pin a badge on a 20 year old and issue him a weapon. He couldn't even purchase alcohol legally, at least not in my state, but is mature enough to make life or death decisions in a chaotic situation with no personal involvement?

Certainly he would never let his feelings interfere with his professionalism.

Not only did he do that, but he was not even required to undergo any kind of psychological testing prior to being sworn. Whoever hired him must be proud of their prowess at judging character. They surely placed their judgment above any kind of concern for the six young people in the morgue now that the young officer has used a gun to express his romantic frustrations. At least it wasn't (as far as I can tell) his official police weapon that killed those young victims.

There used to be a TV show called Doogie Howser, about a genius, who at a young age had completed med school and was a practicing doctor. The show never explained the lack of internship versus the young man's age. No need, since it was only fiction, and no real lives were at stake. I wouldn't have placed my critical care needs in his young hands without adult supervision, though. It takes time to gain wisdom.

The same thing applies here. I don't give a rotten rhyme scheme if the young officer had passed training. Training is not real life experience and will never substitute for the wisdom that comes from years of life.

I guess that, in hindsight, everyone will agree that he was too young.

But is that his fault? No.

The people that failed were the ones that hired and equipped him. And the apologists that want to tell us how hard a cop's job is. If the job is so damn hard, why let a kid do it? Or, how hard can it be if a kid can do it?

Doesn't anyone else see that this irresponsibility and resistance to accountability in the Law Enforcement community is systemic and ingrained? They are too much "in charge" to see how foolish their procedures and policies are in the face of people's lives. And they don't care. They will tell you that you don't know anything about it. Don't believe them. You know enough to see the truth. There's no "magic" in policing. Right and wrong aren't mystical concepts.

Every time something like this happens, there is someone who says that he/she couldn't see it coming. That's a cop-out (pun seriously intended) for people who don't want to accept responsibility for poor judgment. This time it's the city attorney, Lindsay Erickson. I bet she doesn't hire a six year old to mow her lawn, but if she did, and the six year old fell under the mower, would she say that she thought the child was mature enough to operate dangerous machinery? Or that she couldn't have foreseen the danger? She apparently thinks the ability to write "good reports" and be "true to his job" are adequate standards for an officer. Ms. Erickson, would you explain what the town's liability for this officer's actions might be if you allowed that he might have been too young? You are transparent, and your CYA attitude is just plain immoral.

Now understand, I'm not saying that Peterson did this under color of authority. I'm not even saying that it wouldn't have happened if he weren't a sheriff's deputy. I am saying that he should not have been a deputy. And that those who made the decisions that allowed him to become one made serious errors in judgment. I don't even want a twenty year old deputy who has passed psychological testing. Twenty years old is too young. Period.

I hope that those who made such awful decisions do NOT sleep well at night, for a LONG time. Maybe, just maybe, this will be a wake up call to the politicians and voters that changes are necessary.

My guess, though, is that they will continue in their jobs, accountability and common sense be damned. They will continue to make decisions based on bad judgment, and more people will die or be hurt as a result. And, ultimately, the voters will be held responsible. Ask the citizens of Durham, North Caroline.

I am really tired of all the death and inhumanity that is the result of the culture of "protect and serve." It's time to call it "endanger and dominate." That's closer to the reality of our police state. And it's just what the voters deserve.

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