F.O. Number 2 in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Okay, folks… I wrote a Friends Only Entry this morning because I needed to discuss a case. Because I’m super not happy that people in Iowa can say “I was drunk” or “I’m taking medication” and then do whatever they want. But that is neither here nor there… I’ve read the precedent cases and the law and… there is a plea deal to be requested… but as with everything in my FRICKIN’ JOB it all rests on how much, if any, an individual is willing to take responsibility for his actions. That, I think, more than anything is what gets me IN to this job while at the same time BOTHERING me about this job. It is like… being the parent to thousands of misbehaving children.

The parent that says, “Did you clean your room today?
The child says, “Nooooooo. I read today and watched TV!”
Parent: “But didn’t your mother tell you to clean your room today?”
Child: “Uhmmm… noooo. I don’t think so.”
Parent: “Are you sure? I’m pretty sure your mom said clean your room or no TV this weekend. Right?”
Child: “UHmmm.. maybe. I don’t really remember.”
Parent: “All right. MOOOOOM, can you come here please.”
Mom: “Hey, what’s up?”
Parent: “Did you tell Child that if he didn’t clean his room, no tv?”
Mom: “I certainly did. Child, did you clean your room?”
Child: “Ugh. No, but that isn’t what you said! You said I had to pick up my toys or I wouldn’t get TV. You didn’t say the whole room!!”
Parent: “There are toys and clothes all over your floor, you haven’t picked anything up at all.”
Mom: “If you pick up your toys right now, you can have TV this weekend. If you pick up your clothes by the time I come back from the kitchen, you can pick a movie to watch.”
Child reluctantly walks to toys and picks up one as Mom leaves.
Parent: “Okay, that’s a good start. Now what about the rest?”
Child grabs clothes and puts them over the toys and goes to leave the room.
Parent: Now, Child… I know you didn’t pick up your toys, I saw that. Put your toys away or no TV.
Child throws tantrum

Honestly… that is my job. But “child” spans the ages of anywhere between 10 and 89. And “clean up your room” spans the seriousness of ‘don’t drive without a license’ all the way up to ‘don’t murder your spouse!’ AND YET… so many of those “children” still act as though we’re asking too much and being unreasonable by trying to hold them accountable for their actions. Every attorney, defense lawyer and prosecutor, has gone through the feeling of

Because… seriously. There are people in this world, you deal with them every day, that honestly think the rules don’t apply to them. And they get offended when someone tells them that they aren’t special; the rules DO apply to them. This causes issues. And… aggravatingly… the fact that Iowa is becoming notorious for our failures in Mental Health? That is being exploited. There’s a kid that got picked up last year before I was hired that had a record for assault, drugs, and assault. When I was hired, he beat up his girlfriend. She begged me BEGGED ME to not do anything about the case because “he’s just got anger management issues, I know how to help, he just needs medication.” Except… the medication she thought he needed? Marijuana. Which is illegal in Iowa. AND DIDN’T HELP HIM ANYWAY since he’s still beating her up. AND YET SHE STILL TELLS US THAT WE “AREN’T ALLOWED TO INTERFERE.” Listen lady… the truth is, I don’t care whether you live or die as a person… if you want to dedicate your life to an abusive man that may end up killing you… I can’t stop you from doing that as a fellow citizen. I care a LOT whether you live or die as a government official… if you die due to Domestic Abuse and I, the special victims prosecutor, was aware of that abuse… that’s my job. Now… someone who doesn’t give a shit about their life isn’t going to care much about my job but honestly? GIVE ME A BREAK, LADY!

If you or someone you love:
repeatedly abuses drugs
repeatedly breaks traffic laws
repeatedly assaults people
repeatedly harasses or stalks people
repeatedly steals or breaks into people’s homes
repeatedly rapes, molests, or sexually assaults people
repeatedly tortures, assaults, or neglects animals or children
or breaks the law in any other significant and/or repeated fashion..............

Grow up a little, take help when offered, take responsibility for your actions, and work WITH us. Because… here’s the weird thing… our job is to protect the Community of which you are a part. If we can get you drug treatment, we want to. If we can make it so that you don’t lose your license, we don’t want you to lose your license. If you need anger management classes, we can get you those. BUT REMEMBER… every time you fail, relapse, re-offend… we have less hope and less ability to work with you on that. So I’ll say it this way:
I’ve never recommended a harsh prison sentence for anyone who didn’t indicate through their conduct that they wanted to be there.

What do I mean by this? How’s this for an example:
A man breaks into a woman’s home with a gun. He screams, “I’m coming to kill you, get out here!” She runs into the bathroom and calls the police. He breaks down every door in that house looking for her (she had escaped at this point.) He is arrested. Our stupid magistrate releases him on his own recognizance!! Two weeks later, he’s picked up breaking into her old house, high on meth, illegally possessing a firearm. His criminal history shows multiple drug and violent offenses and multiple ‘reduced sentences’ and ‘treatment assigned probation periods.’ In short… the State had never punished him but kept trying to work with him… which led to him terrorizing a woman. Even after he was stopped and put back on the streets with no punishment AGAIN… he gets high and goes back to terrorizing this woman. At that point? He is communicating by his actions that he WANTS** to be in prison.

I mean sure. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that would argue against me on this. But at that point? If he is incapable or unwilling to modify his behavior so that he is not at MINIMUM not a threat to other people? He’s left me no choice. And I don’t feel bad about that. But I can bet you dollars to donuts that he and his attorney will fight tooth and nail, bitching the whole time, about how unjust The System is.

I am loathe to do this but… if you want an experience in my life? Here’s a YouTube video of a lawyer debating a sovereign citizen. Also, read the comments section from Bob Jones who claims to be a Moorish National.

Frankly… we can offer some people all the education, therapy, medication, and assistance that exists and all they will do is yell shout and scream “THINGS NEED TO BE THE WAY I WANT THEM TO BE OR NO WAY AT ALL!”

More bullshit:

So… yeah. Actually… between News and Life and Law and alllll the people that want to run around the world thinking I’m exceptional, rules shouldn’t apply to me, fuck laws I’m too important… today has really been… well… as I said to my Wife:

I’m dealing with Sovereign Citizens and No-Responsibility Violent Man Children all day and feeling a deep need to just drown the entire world.

So… that’s where I am right now. Hopefully this birthday weekend helps with that.

I plan on going to a restaurant… playing video games… drinking… doing yard work/house work… and trying to (FINALLY) get to that Democrat Meeting that happens once a year. SO… yeah. Either I’ll have a great and fun weekend… or a painful and frustrating weekend.