Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

September 14, 2012

Police in Boise assert that a criminal syndicate called the ?Slayer? gang was responsible for a series of robberies, assaults, and acts of extortion.

The alleged ringleader, a 53-year-old man named Jerry Brown, has agreed to plead guilty on three charges ? aggravated assault, recruiting a gang member, and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime. He faces a 15-year prison term with a mandatory minimum of five years behind bars.

When prosecutors propose a deal, they generally offer to drop a serious charge in order to induce a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser offense. In Jerry Brown?s case, Ada County prosecutors secured a five-year prison sentence by agreeing not to prosecute him on charges that he had distributed marijuana.

Aggravated assault is a serious crime involving an actual victim. The same cannot honestly be said of engaging in commerce involving marijuana. Even if we embrace the flawed ? and un-Biblical -- assumption that the government has the authority to dictate what people choose to consume, wouldn?t reasonable people agree that beating somebody up is a more serious crime than handing him a joint?

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.