Grateful

This semester I stayed at Chandler-Gilbert Community College instead of transferring to ASU. I chose to take 4 criminal justice classes to get a head start on my degree at ASU. So my classes are Intro to Criminal Justice, Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Justice Administration, Criminology and Criminal Investigation. Let me tell ya, most of these classes cover the same things, so I hear most of the stuff at least 3 times. Which isn't all bad, at least it gets engrained to my head. What I didn't expect though is the intensity of learning about our criminal justice system.

Let me go back and give you some background. I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was 10 years old. Granted there was a little year and a half stint where I wanted to make a difference by being a teacher. Anyways, my heart has always been to see justice done. Justice is a tricky term. Because most people's definition of justice is not the same. One of the questions that we always got asked in a pre-law class that I took was, "What is your definition of justice?" Every law professor, politician and lobbyist we asked all gave a different answer. The definition is something that can alter the way you look and perceive the judicial system.

Merriam Webster Dictionary gives it this definition:

Justice: the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments

Every case that goes through the judicial system has a judge, who tries to be impartial, fair and just. But the reality is that every person has a bias. It's human nature. Those judges determine the sentences and the rest of the life of the people that they have to judge. I'm sure it's a grueling job that is hard not only emotionally, but physically.

Back to school, tonight I was in my criminology class and we were learning about violence towards women and children. My teacher is a very passionate advocate against that. She worked as a child therapist in a women's shelter so it's close to her heart. She was telling us stories about different cases of violence and how the police handled them. One of those stories was about Tracey Thurman.

Tracey Thurman was in the process of divorcing her husband. They had a son together and her husband was more than a little upset about the divorce. Tracey had a restraining order for him but he persistently came back and threatened to kill her. One incident escalated with dire consequences. When her husband arrived, Tracey was upstairs in her home and heard him calling for her to come down and see him. She proceeded to call the police telling them that he was back and asking them to send someone over right away. The police officer took his time getting to the house and watched as Mr. Thurman stabbed and beat Tracey on the ground. The cop called in back up and when they arrived they all watched him stomp on her head. The police did nothing. They finally arrested him when he tried to kick her as the paramedics were putting her in the ambulance. Needless to say, Tracey sued the entire police department because they did not step in. But this case changed the way that police officers were trained to deal with domestic violence. She was awarded $1.9 million for damages.

This was only one among many stories that we heard about in class tonight. And all I could think about was how my biggest problem was getting money to go to school. There are people all over the country that are being beaten by their spouses and staying there. They don't report it, and they don't leave. I don't know what that mindset is like because I've been in that type of situation. But from my perspective, I would leave. I don't understand how those things are happening in the world. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the life that God has given me. He is so good to bless me in so many ways. He has given me a tremendous family who loves me and would take me out of that situation in a heartbeat. Hopefully, I wouldn't even be in that situation. I have friends who love me more than I deserve. And yet, they would be there in a heartbeat as well.

Count your blessings, my friends. We have so many blessings that we take for granted every day. We are given each of our experiences for a reason. I firmly believe that. And for me, this lesson has shown me how much I have. God, thank you. I am so grateful.