"Lawyering Up"

We live in a litigious society, which, to be honest, puts food on my table. In a civilized society when problems cannot be worked out between individuals, they turn to the rule of law, and lawyers.

Across the Toledo blogosphere comments have been recently made that the Ottawa Hills PD has already "lawyer-ed up", failed to release a statement, and thus the shooting must have been unjustified.

The Constitution applies to individual civil servants as much as too you and I, and the officer or department's silence is understandable at this point. In our media fed, instant access, computer fuelled world; saying nothing at the outset is the best advice for everyone. Remain silent, call a supervisor, call a lawyer, and don't talk to the press.

The presumption of innocence - which we all live with the benefit of and expect to be treated in accordance with, gets forgotten when we suspect a person's motives, dislike their background, color, position or status, and assume guilt because they seek counsel (also a constitutional right). In this time of our history, lets not throw out individual constitutional rights when times get tough, lets cling to them with all our might. Cops too.

TAHL