This is actually the fifth post in my Chautauqua version 1.0. I'm still working kinks out, getting it ready for “Beta Testing” . You guys are my “Alpha Testing”. If you want to start this from a “Chautauqua” perspective go to :

 The ART of Reason Catalog

 And begin from beneath “The Art Of Reason: A Chautauqua”

This is a “Stand Alone Parable”, so if you don't want to get into “Chautauqua” or “Alpha Testing” mode just now, I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments you have to make here-- perhaps after reading this you may go to the Chautauqua and read and comment there. Then again, after the PUNishment of reading this, you may never visit my blog again.

In any case, thanks for stopping by.

The Parable of Little Ms Deeds

On the perversion of “Justice” into “Correction”

Once upon a time there was a little German town in Ohio named Fairborn. It was, naturally, very Fair. It was said than anyone born in Fairborn, was born Fair, All of the heirs of Fairborn were Fair, and as they grew, they became Fair Herrs, who produced more Fair Heirs, and so on back through time to the dim misty founding of the town. (1950) And of course, being German, all of the Fair Herrs and their Fair Heirs had fair Hair. The townspeople boasted that even their Rabbits were fair, and of course, they had the Fairest Air in the world. How could they not? They had the largest Forced Air Base in the world (Wright Patterson), and the Air of Fairborn was refreshed daily by the air forced through hundreds of jet engines.

There was a court in Fairborn, The Fairborn Municipal Court, It was the Fairest Court in the Land. Beth Root was the Judge of Fairborn Municipal Court, and as a Judge, she was, at her best, Fair. It must be said, in Fairness, that the Fairborn Court made its fair share of mistakes, but when the Court made mistakes, it must be conceded that they made only the fairest Errors. They erred because the law said that punishment could not be dealt unless a crime was proved “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”

Because of this, criminals often escaped unpunished for their misdeeds even though the police and the prosecutor KNEW they were guilty, but could not prove it The errors were forced error, required by the fairness of the law that says that it is better that 100 guilty go free rather than 1 innocent be wrongly punished.

The forced errors were fair, for the “Criminals” tried by the court were cited for only little misdeeds. Fairborn Municipal court is a Traffic and Misdemeanor Court, which means that people charged in it are only allowed to be judged for “Misdemeanor” ( Bad Behavior) rather than anything that might be a “Felony” ( Fell- deadly) crime. The doers of any large misdeeds never came before the court, and the court was aware that the error forced upon them by the law was in the cause of justice, and so they dispensed their “justice” with Fair Ehre (honor)

This did not please Betsy Deeds. Betsy Deeds was the prosecutor for Fairborn Municipal Court, and she burned with resentment when she “lost” a case to the defendant because she didn't have proof beyond a reasonable doubt. She KNEW that the people who were charged were ALWAYS guilty.

After all, the Law Enforcement Professionals (LEPers) who cited and arrested the “Perps” had a HOLY obligation to only arrest BAD people, and LEPers had an uncanny and supernatural sense of what was right and righteous and ALWAYS knew whom they should arrest, even if they didn't have evidence. Her friend, Officer Holly of Beavercreek, assured her of this every time he testified to the guilt of some scumbag he had caught speeding or failing to use his turn signals on the public roads, and who then had the arrogance to challenge his word in court.

Officer Holly would tell Betsy Deeds that all LEPers have a “Sacred Trust” to fight “Evil” and are Holy enforcers of “Justice”. LEPers have a RIGHT to feel “Holier than Thou” when dealing with mere “civilians”. Officer Holly was nicknamed Holly “Holier than Thou”, because he knew just how to treat the perps with the contempt and jaundiced suspicion that their lying “explanations” of “why they were parked in a no parking zone” deserved. He was the arresting officer of many of the Perps who “Got off” on the technicality of no proof “beyond a reasonable doubt”. He was angry that most of his arrests came down to his word against a “Civilians”, and how often the “Civilian” was allowed to escape proper punishment. He and Betsy Deeds often spoke about how unfair the errors of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” were to LEPers. The errors made LEPers look incompetent and petty, and losing cases was not how the political careers of prosecutors and would be politicians are built.

But one day, Ms Deeds realized that there was a way to correct the errors of justice so that the error of being fair would no longer be a problem to her and LEPers like “Holy”. All she had to do was charge each defendant with any conceivable offense that might be included in a simple case, and then, when the perp realized how much time and money it would cost to defend himself, and how long he could spend in jail if he were sentenced to consecutive sentences, offer the perp a plea bargain of a small or waived fine simply for admitting to being guilty. Ms. Deeds knew that such “overcharging” is technically prosecutorial misconduct and an abuse of authority, but it was only a little misdeed, and it ensured that the perps were “Corrected” for their bad behavior, whether there was proof of a misdeed or not. And little misdeeds such as these were safe for Little Ms Deeds to do, because she had prosecutorial immunity and no one could ever charge her with doing anything “wrong”.

It wasn't WRONG, it was only a little misdeed, and it brought Correction to perps, and led to the vindication of LEPers who sensed perps among the civilians, but had no proof to charge them. Besides, her own won/lost percentage soared as perp after perp admitted to having done SOMETHING wrong, just to get out of the overcharging of legal fees that the overcharging by Little Ms Deeds allowed the defense lawyers to overcharge. All the Lawyers in Greene county were so happy with Little Ms Deeds solution to the problem of “innocent” ( In Nocere not harmful) defendants, that Little Ms Deeds became a guiding inspiration to the Greene County Bar, and was elected to be its President.

And thus, in Fairborn, the Fair Error and Reasonable Doubt so necessary for the expectation of Justice, was perverted to the certainty of the “Correction” of Little Ms Deeds

 So entered “Evil” into the Court of Justice of the citizens of Fairborn.

The Root of all Evil is injustice. The Root of Injustice is Little Ms Deeds.

But what of the Evil of Root? Judge Root is the ruler of the Court- She could dismiss Little Ms Deeds little misdeeds and the injustice caused by Little Ms. Deeds. Root believes in rooting out “Evil”.

Here is a problem. “Evil” comes from the German “Upfel”, and means “Disobedience”. Is the Evil of Root “injustice” or does she view Justice as the “Correction” of Disobedience? Does she dispense Justice, or merely promote Dominance and fear of “Authority”?

Free People do not place authority in the hands of the court so that they may be made to “obey” .

They allow the court to exercise judgment in the expectation of “Justness”.

“Justness” is Robert Persig's “Quality”, the feeling that Reason arrives at after it has consulted both the “Logic” of the Mind, AND, more importantly, the intuition of the Spirit.  “Justice” or “Fairness” is always a feeling of "Justness", not a “Fact”.  Just-as is the Judgment of a Reasoning Being. That is why “Free Will” is so central, not only to how an Individual makes decisions, but how he relates to those with whom he shares community, and under what conditions he will submit to the authority and “Truths” of his civil, social, mental, or spiritual communities.

Free people of Reason allow authority to judge them in the expectation of protection from Injury- ( IN Iures - “Unrighteousness” Injustice ) that a community (Strengthen together co munio) of reason provides. They do not submit to a tyranny of “Law” so that they and their “Opponents” might be forced to obey by Unjust Authority. To disobey Unjust Authority is NOT Evil. It is a duty of Reason and the very strength of the community.

So :

If the Root of Evil is injustice, is the Evil of Root only Little Ms. Deeds, or is the Evil of Root her own need for “authority”, “Dominance” and “Correction” ? Does Root share the “Beat me, Bite me, Whip me! Make Me Obey!” Philosophy of Little Ms Deeds ?

                         Little Ms Deeds preparing for Court 

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