Social Justice Fail

by

JusticeThey didn’t think bail was fair, so they paid to get him freed. Nonprofit Pays Bail For Man Who Attacked His Wife, Hours Later He Murders Her. The dead woman didn’t get much justice, social or any other kind.

First, what happened.

St. Louis, MO – Just hours after a nonprofit group posted bail for a man accused of assaulting his wife, the suspect went to the woman’s home and brutally murdered her, according to prosecutors.

Samuel Lee Scott, 54, was arrested for domestic abuse on April 5, after he allegedly beat 54-year-old Marcia Johnson, injuring her cheekbone and ear, the Associated Press reported.

He was bailed out of jail by a Social Justice Organization, the Bail Project. (Soon to be renamed as the Fail Project?)

“The Bail Project is an unprecedented effort to combat mass incarceration at the front end of the system,” according to the group’s website. “We pay bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence.”

Hours. Not days. Not weeks. Hours after they bailed him out, the woman he had previously attacked was dead.

There was a court order of protection. Cops arrested him. Though why bail was granted is beyond me. (Don’t you think he presented a clear threat to the public, or at least to one member thereof?)

The Fail Project leaders are “saddened” but claim they are not to blame. And no one could have predicted that a violent husband would continue to be violent.

“No one could have predicted this tragedy,” [Bail Project Executive Director Robin] Steinberg claimed, according to the Associated Press.

The hat tip goes to The Other McCain who notes, ‘No One Could Have Predicted This Tragedy’ (But It Was Predictable). If you read as much about Domestic Violence as I do, you know that it is hardly ever a one-time occurrence, and it tends to escalate.

The System (with the aid of The Bail Project) failed to protect this woman. But then it fails to protect most people with violent stalkers. If you have a need for a restraining order, then you have a need for a personal protection plan, because you never know when a group of well-meaning dunderheads (e.g. The Bail Project) will enable that violent stalker to attack you. That plan should include something aside from “Calling 911.” Road to Hell. Good Intentions.