Selective Enforcement Not True

["John Guyer" <johnguy@moscow.com>]

Greetings All,

I will say from the get go, that my time is shorter than usual this week
so I will not be able to answer the many posts here.

For those that I have been having private dialog, I will have to ask you
to be patient as well.

It has been bantered around that the council favors selective
enforcement with the public nudity ordinance amendments.  This is one of
the reasons that is being cited to oppose the ordinance.

While I cannot speak for the council, I can say that I believe that to
be completely false.  Laws are crafted to be clear.  This law is no
different than others in that regard.

Someone that parks their utility trailer or boat on the street without
having it connected to a vehicle has committed a misdemeanor.  The
maximum penalty for leaving your trailer in the street is the same as
that for violating the Public Nudity ordinance.  This "trailer law" has
intent with it that the entire system (officers, attorneys, and judges)
utilizes in making decisions about how to justly deal with the offense.
Did they mean 10 minutes while they switch vehicles?  Did they mean
overnight while waiting to take it out?  Did they mean all the way in
the street, or just partially in the street? 

Human discretion is a required element of law enforcement, adjudication,
and sentencing.  Lady justice IS blind, but not Judge Dredd blind.
Justice means the right response to the right situation.  There is a
range of responses that the entire system can make along the way from
the officer in the street to the judge on the bench.  I cannot believe
you want a rigid response to every offense.  Where is the community
served in that?

If your concern is about BIASED enforcement, then I agree with you, that
that is bad.  Biased enforcement is not the result of the laws written,
but rather the individuals in the system.

Take care,

John B. Guyer
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johnguy@moscow.com
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