Lady Justice: borderline blindness

On February 21, 2008 a Harris County Sheriff's Department officer (Houston, Texas) was killed in a horrendous collision with a 20 foot box truck on the Katy Freeway.
Craig Miller was pronounced dead on the scene as horrified witnesses looked on, his vehicle overturned. Jose Jesus Vieyra, the driver of the commercial sized vehicle received only minor injuries.

Subsequently Vieyra was incarcerated under charges of vehicular manslaughter. A determination was made that he was here in the United States illegally and thus his immediate arrest. Justice would be handed out quickly, the victim, after all, an undercover cop on duty.

Days pass and new revelations were uncovered. Miller was not an undercover cop, nor was he on duty but had actually been called to report for extra duty. While on his way he met with his untimely death. Further investigation uncovered that he was driving under the influence of alcohol, three times the legal limit, in addition to not wearing his seat belt.

Lady Justice is forced to look at two sides of a story. On the American side a 20 year veteran peace officer dies in a senseless accident involving an illegal immigrant and who may have caused the fatal accident.

Looking across the border, there is Jose Jesus Vieyra, a hard working hispanic individual with no tickets in the U.S., who believed the officer had sufficient time to veer away, brake and slow down his approach allowing the truck to continue on its destination.

Second, the officer was not on duty as claimed earlier but rather en route to a duty call. He did not mention to his superiors as to his physical condition making a claculated choice to drive while under the influence of alcohol. The alcohol level was high enough to impair judgement and motor function, in essence, making him an accident in transit.As a duly certified peace officer, Miller understood his obligation to the public he served. Still, he chose to violate the very laws he swore to uphold and execute.

Who was more at fault? Was it the American who by his own actions chose to break not only the law but chose to deny every other human being, regardless of race or citizenship, the right to those inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Was it the Mexican national who chose to break a law regarding border treaty so that he might enjoy some of those very same inalienable rights?

Today Jose Jesus Vieyra still sits in a jail awaiting to see if Lady Justice suffers from borderline blindness. Will Lady Justice succumb to the urge to find all illegal immigrants guilty before proven innocent simply based on their citizenship status? This can be a dangerous precedent for people of all differences and sects living America.

this article has been brought to you by escape.to/josephssocialexperiment

By: Joseph DPrince
Published: 04/23/08