For all the tragedy and folderol in politics, one thing for which I consistently credit the left is advocating civil rights. Here’s just the latest example from someone who went to Bernhardt’s high school. I may not agree with the entire speech but here’s an excerpt anyone interested in individualized and equal justice can appreciate:

Here in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, legislators have introduced the concept of “risk assessments” that seek to assign a probability to an individual’s likelihood of committing future crimes and, based on those risk assessments, make sentencing determinations. Although these measures were crafted with the best of intentions, I am concerned that they may inadvertently undermine our efforts to ensure individualized and equal justice…

Criminal sentences must be based on the facts, the law, the actual crimes committed, the circumstances surrounding each individual case, and the defendant’s history of criminal conduct. They should not be based on unchangeable factors that a person cannot control, or on the possibility of a future crime that has not taken place. Equal justice can only mean individualized justice, with charges, convictions, and sentences befitting the conduct of each defendant and the particular crime he or she commits…

Of course, we all know about PreCrime from the movie: Minority Report, which was loosely adapted from Philip K. Dick’s short story: The Minority Report.

Bernhardt will continue his review and commentary of Professor Fred Siegel’s book: The Revolt Against the Masses in the weeks to come.