Judgement Daze

Heather Cook, drunken disgrace to the clergy she represented and to the public she once vowed to serve, was released from prison the other day. She was sentenced to seven years, a very light sentence to begin with, and served just over half of it.

She killed a man named Tom Palermo, who was riding a bike in Roland Park two days after Christmas, 2014.  She was three times drunk and texting at the time. She left the scene without stopping to see how the man was doing as he lay mortally injured.

But I'm not here to talk about that anymore.  We subscribe to a justice system which is not perfect, in a world that isn't either.  It's like Yogi Berra once said: "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."

And who can argue with that?

No, my point is with all those who took to Facebook, Twitter, the local coffee shop and the water cooler at the office to talk it over. Specifically, I wish to address those of you who said, "She deserved a second chance."

OK. She got her second chance. In 2010, she was caught for several crimes, including possession of marijuana and DUI. This occurred on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Caroline County, where police pulled the bishop over for a traffic stop.

The probable causes for the stop included erratic driving and driving on a wheel. One of her tires shredded but on and on she drove with her booze and her pot.  For her sins, she received probation before judgment and a $300 fine from a judge who probably thought she deserved a break.

OK then, she was on her second chance when she killed Palermo and left his wife a widow and his children fatherless.  Here comes the point I always love to hear:

"Who are we to judge?"

I see people saying this and I wonder if they would say so if they were the people left bereft by this horrible excuse for a woman, who killed and fled, and only wept for the loss of her own freedom.

I wonder if they would say that if they were robbed and beaten on the street, if they were served deliberately adulterated food in a restaurant, if their child were kidnapped and tortured.

Viewed in a vacuum, sure, let's love everyone and give them unlimited chances. But when the crimes come home and the criminals are taking away your loved ones, you're less likely to say "who are we to judge?"

Cook is saying that she doesn't know what's next on her path, but said she had faith that "God doesn't waste anything."

If she means that, she will find a way to try to replace what she wasted.