Letter to the Editor: Losing Respect for Law

Editor:

Recently in Federal court the sheriff of Levy County, Johnny Smith, pleaded before Judge Mickle for a lenient sentence for convicted County Commissioner Sammy Yearty, who had been found guilty of taking bribes.

What a despicable display of how law enforcement officers selectively enforce the law. Smith was quoted as saying he had zero tolerance for crime, especially narcotics. Why then was he pleading for tolerance for a man that had been convicted of three felonies and had violated the trust of the people of Levy County? He asked the judge to be lenient and said that Yearty had a lapse in judgment and that we all have lapses in judgment. That is true, and I think Smith had one at that moment.

Smith could have served the citizens of Levy County well if he would have at least remained neutral, and he would have served us even better if he had supported the prosecutor and had requested a sentence appropriate for the crime.

I have since my youthful days been saddened, sometimes to the point of shedding tears, to see how law enforcement officers treat the poor, the weak and the helpless in this society, while "slapping the wrists" of the privileged class even when they are guilty of serious crimes, as was this county commissioner. It is appalling to any sensitive person to witness the preferential treatment that the law gives to wealthy prestigious people while often abusing poor people. So called white collar criminals who have stolen millions of dollars often get little or no jail time yet a poor person who steals a loaf of bread of smokes a "joint" often is put in jail for a long time.

The primary responsibility of the law is to protect the citizens. Johnny Smith missed an opportunity to show that he is concerned about punishing crime and protecting the citizens. I am ashamed at the disgrace the law has become for many in our nation and I have lost a little more of the respect that I once had for the law.

Parnick A. Williams