Eleven police officers shot in 24 hours. Am I talking about a news headline in Mexico? No. The headline is right here in the U.S. In five states no less.
So are we in danger of becoming Mexico? Again the answer is no. Equating our issues to those of Mexico is too easy. Instead, I do the finger pointing much closer: within our borders.
Why, for horrifying example, was Johnny Simms of Miami allowed to be on the streets to kill two officers? After all, Simms had a violent criminal history, both as a juvenile and as an adult. The boy...then man...committed almost every crime in the proverbial book: selling drugs, theft, armed robberies, etc. And yet he was given a pass in the system with light sentences. Rehabilitate the youthful offender, the judges said. I got it...once..but not thrice!
When we look at the tragedy in Tucson, we ask "where were the signs...could we have done more to stop Loughner before he struck?" In the case of Loughner and Simms, we had all the signals...we just didn't act on them. But we can't bame Mexico for that.
Lis Wiehl is a Fox News legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. She is the author of five bestselling books. For more visit her website.
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