Justice, Minnesota style

Who can dispute that some, if not many, criminals are attracted to Minnesota by our generous welfare system, and particularly our lenient criminal justice system? They come from crime factories such as Chicago, Gary, Detroit, and other jewels of America.

In a powerful opinion piece today in the Red Star, Minneapolis Police Sgt. Erica Christensen writes about the latest injuctice heaped upon crime victims, this time by the Minnesota Supreme Court, "Where is justice for the Hillmans?".

In March of 2003, Charden Gomez was convicted by a jury on two counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

This should have been the last society should ever have heard of Gomez. It was the proper, just and righteous conclusion to a brutal, grisly event.

It was not to be.

This past Oct. 13, the Minnesota State Supreme Court overturned Gomez's conviction.

This action, by the way, is nothing new for our state's highest court. They have frequently come down on the side of the criminal.

This level of unnecessary intervention by the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of this convicted murderer is overwhelming.

The scary part is ... it is not the first time this year that our state's highest court has done this.

The pattern of decisions being handed down by the justices, overturning a high number of first-degree murder convictions, denotes a bench sorely out of touch with reality in the streets and the courtrooms of our state.

Well, you're right, Sgt. Christensen, and thank you for pointing this out. Let's not forget this now that judges are going to be accountable to the people.