When the Law Forgets Mercy
My son called me one night, his voice quiet and heavy.
“Mom,” he said, “my friend was taken by ICE.”
He explained that this man — about his age, early thirties — had lived in the United States his entire life. He grew up in American schools, worked hard, paid taxes, cared for his blind mother, and buried his father years ago. America wasn’t just his home; it was all he had ever known.
Then one day, he was gone.
Detained.
Set to be deported to Mexico — a country he has never lived in, never navigated, does not speak the language of, and has no family waiting for him.
As my son spoke, disbelief broke through his words.
“He made mistakes when he was younger, Mom. Stupid things. But he changed. He doesn’t even have a traffic ticket. He’s been trying. Doesn’t that matter anymore?”
And there was nothing I could say.
Because the truth is, I didn’t know either.
When the Law Loses Its Purpose
I’ve always believed in the rule of law.
It is what keeps order in a world that often feels like it’s spinning off its axis.
But there are moments when the law forgets why it exists —
moments when it stops protecting,
and starts punishing without thought.
Law without morality becomes cruelty wearing a uniform.
Morality without law becomes chaos.
Together, they create something rare and necessary —
justice that is both firm and kind.
This young man is not a statistic.
He is a son, a caretaker, a man trying to honor his second chance.
But our system treated him like a case number, not a life.
The Questions No One Knows How to Answer
My son kept asking, “How can this happen here?”
And I found myself asking the same thing.
When did we become a country that measures worth only by paperwork?
When did we start confusing punishment with justice?
I don’t condone breaking the law.
But I believe in redemption.
I believe people can change.
And I believe a nation’s greatness is measured not by how it punishes the guilty…
but by how it gives space for second chances.
Two Lives, Disrupted
Somewhere, a blind mother sits alone tonight, wondering how her son — her only family — was taken from her by the very system she trusted to protect him.
And somewhere, a young man sits in a detention center, staring at the walls of a country that taught him everything except how to belong.
My son told me this story, and I cannot stop thinking about it.
Because when the law stops listening to morality, it stops being justice.
It becomes something else entirely —
a weapon that breaks the wrong hearts.
The Balance We Must Protect
“Law without morality becomes cruelty wearing a uniform.
Morality without law becomes chaos.
The balance between the two — that’s where justice lives.”
#EllenSamson
.png)
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment