In his poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost quotes a neighbor in the poem who says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” There is some debate as to whether the poem is pro-fence or anti-fence, but the statement is generally true. Studies of children’s playground behavior show that when their play yard is fenced, they tend to roam the entire yard. When their play yard is not fenced, they tend to huddle near the building adjacent to the play yard. To children, the fence provides a sense of security.

When our Founding Fathers created our Constitution, they put certain principles into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those principles were based on Nature’s Law and God’s Law. The Declaration of Independence states that our rights come from God and that they are inalienable. These rights are fundamental and cannot be taken away or transferred. The Declaration of Independence lists these rights as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Protecting those rights is the basis of our judicial system (which includes consequences for those who attempt to deprive people of those rights). Our Constitution provides a ‘fence’ to block anyone trying to take away our rights.

On August 22nd (although not reported in the mainstream media), there was a stabbing attack on the Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail train. Iryna Zarutska, 23 years old, a refugee from Ukraine who came to America for safety, was stabbed to death by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., a man who had been arrested fourteen times before, but was walking free.

The ’fence’ in our law that should have kept him in prison was for some reason left open, and a young girl is dead. She was returning from work, still wearing her pizzeria uniform, sitting quietly, looking at her phone when Brown, sitting behind her on the train, chose to attack her. The video is available on the internet if you care to watch it.

It’s time to put the ‘fences’ back up. It’s time to enforce the laws and keep people who break the law in prison until they are tried. Part of the problem is the no cash bail laws in some of our major cities. Congress is beginning to act to end this practice. The “Ending Cashless Bail in Our Nation’s Capital Act” and the “Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act” are being led by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Senate, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in the House. We need to end no cash bail laws for both federal and local crimes.

Let’s protect law-abiding citizens—not criminals–so that everyone can use public transportation without fearing for their life.

NOTE:

An article about the murder of Iryna Zarutska can be found at PJMedia.