What a bringdown...
I took a sickday yesterday. After taking the kids to school I crawled back into bed. It's all just a little depressing. I know how these things go, but somehow I was hoping for a little more than the usual, "attaboys" and "I know this creep, I think he did it..." e-mails.
What you expect is either a break in the case or a White Knight to come along and solve the whole messy problem for you...
Not that I didn't know how this would play out. I wrote back in January:
In his recent book, Justice Defined, law professor and sometime victims’ rights advocate, Alan Young speaks of an editorial he wrote in 1995 in response to public outcry over a murder committed by a paroled offender,
"I wrote this editorial deliberately to stir a public outcry, but not oneI know exactly how he feels. When I struggled for two years to prove to authorities that the police were wrong in concluding my sister Theresa had been on a path of self destruction that led to a drug overdose, but rather was murdered, and that act was society’s problem, not of her own making - and then when through a series of newspaper articles I publicly called attention to this problem - I rather naively assumed that my work would be over. Critics would take up my cause, and I would get back to my life.
letter, one comment or one statement was ever made… Justice spending is a
critical issue, yet when an absolute gem was delivered to all the critics out
there, everyone was asleep. "
Nothing happened. There was sympathy, a whole lot of people felt sorry for my family, but no one was so sorry as to be motivated to change anything. Victims allow themselves to be paraded out in front of the public through the media because they have a quaint idea that this act will invoke change. Typically, media exposure creates static inaction; the public is shocked and appalled, “there but for the grace of god go I”, but nothing happens - nothing but the further isolation, and victimization of the victim.
And so it goes with the W-FIVE piece. They tell me 1.2 million people watched.
And nothing happens.
The Surete du Quebec called me yesterday. They were really moved by the W-FIVE piece.
Will they call me on a regular basis to give me updates?
No.
Will they put more officers on the case?
No, my Investigator is still at it part-time; he's spending most of his hours at a trial in Val d'Or, QC.
So I stayed in bed yesterday. I'm back at work today. Tonight I have a presentation to give for my Public Information Technology class. I'll try to make it through until 9:00 pm. As my daughter says "I'm sad for no reason". Ya, that's true... I can't really put my finger on it, but I'm sad.
P.S.... The Ides of March... Exactly three years ago today, I took my first trip to Sherbrooke and asked Sgt Demarais of the Surete du Quebec if I could view the contents of my sister's file.
posted by John Allore @ 3/15/2005 07:36:00 AM
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