A Kennedy Goes to Jail

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., - the son of a former U.S. Attorney General and nephew of a president — is going to jail. He is going to jail for 30 days for participating in an April, 2000, protest of U.S. Navy bombing exercises on the island of Vieques.

In meting out the sentence, Federal District Judge Hector Lafitte said, "It hurts me to sentence you, but I have to promote respect for the law." Mr. Kennedy was defended by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo who, by all accounts, pled eloquently for his client.

While one could discuss many nuances of this case, from multiple perspectives, it is fundamentally yet one more indication that our system of government still can work as intended.

Those citizens whose passions or politics (or even their egocentricities) compel peaceful civil disobedience can impact government decisions. They must engage in such acts, however, with the understanding that to break the law is to incur the punishment of the law.

Without the spirit of revolution on which this country was founded, we lose. Without enforcement of the laws that govern us, we lose. Without courageous judges who hold no one above the law, we lose. Without prosecutors and defense attorneys who vigorously uphold our system of justice, we lose. Without the media to inform us, we lose. We lose the most if we as individual citizens are not sufficiently engaged in the issues that confront us to try to make a difference.

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