Good people go to Hell

My mom recently got a ticket for running a red light. I could go into all the details of why she knows that she didn't run it and why I believe her and how that officer who pulled her over was kind of a jerk, but what really perplexed me was the way that her hearing went when she took her case to court.

Before Mom's case, other traffic violators went before the judge to plead their cases. And all their pleas went something like this: "I'm a moral person." "I get straight A's at the university that I attend and my son gets straight A's at his elementary school. I want to set a good example for him." They were all found innocent and excused from their charges.

When Mom got up to plead her case, she actually explained the reasons why she wasn't guilty. Her plea was that she had done nothing wrong; not that she was a good person. The judge found her guilty. In afterthought Mom wondered if she should have pulled the moral card too. After all, the ladies at work look up to her; have even called her their "moral compass." I'm glad she didn't.

I had a few hours of anger, but after that, I have not been able to stop thinking about those people whose defense had nothing to do with their case and that judge who somehow felt a big enough sympathy pang to excuse them. It's just too bad. It's too bad that the judge doesn't understand what justice is. And it's really too bad that those other defendants think they can make up for their mistakes by doing good things. That is the path to Hell.