People wonder sometimes if I really mean what I say about injustice in Michigan. Michigan is the land of injustice. Criminals walk away free, allowed to continue with their crimes. Today was set a precedent that it was acceptable for a police chief to ADMIT he misused the law enforcement information network (LEIN) on someone he didn't know, without a valid reason. Before today, people were FIRED for looking their own family members up, which is also improper LEIN use. But today a jury decided it is perfectly acceptable.
To say I'm sick is an understatement.
So let me talk about injustice in Michigan. Here's what it looks like:
Aaron was a classmate of mine in high school. He had an absolutely amazing ability to imitate SNL, and some of my fondest memories of high school are of sitting next to him in math class on Monday mornings as he relived the best skits. Somehow I always ended up in math class with him and ended up sitting next to him despite assigned seats. At the time of his death he was working on some pop art/comic/ mix of crazy. I found it after his death, and it took me back to high school math class. Once in a while I still go look at it at Internet Archive, just to remember his unique sense of humor...
Lots of stories later, graduation, then I remember the last time I saw him at the grocery store in Richmond, ca 1997. Fast forward to 2006, and a mutual friend from high school (best man at my wedding), who had NO idea Aaron and I had been friends in high school, said that he'd mentioned my name to Aaron. By then I had a husband and two kids who kept me busy, but I finally was able to type an email to him as our mutual friend's wedding came closer. Aaron was supposed to be best man.
The morning I wrote my email, Aaron was sitting at a traffic light, waiting for it to turn so he could turn left and go to work. A 17 year old kid, who was on drugs and drunk, on a suspended license, drove into his car at over 70 MPH. Aaron's car started on fire..... Look it up. The article is still online.
The kid who did that, whose dad was in for dealing meth at the time, got 4 years of schooling on the state dime, and got to walk away.
I still miss my friend.
