There comes a time when society needs to take a hard look in the mirror and realize that we’re coddling criminals more than we’re protecting the innocent. Take the tragic case of Ethan Liming, a 17-year-old whose young life was brutally cut short for the audacity of spraying water pellets with his friends on a summer’s day in Akron, Ohio. While it may have been a misguided prank, their actions did not warrant the savage and lethal response they received. But what unfolded in the courtroom is a shocking reminder of how distorted our justice system has become, especially when it panders to the whims of identity politics.
Ethan’s death, and the subsequent legal circus, is a dire warning of what happens when justice is supplanted by the obsession with social justice politics. Ethan’s killers got off with a mere assault charge, equating the brutal stomping death of a teenager to nothing more than an everyday bar brawl. That Deshawn Stafford, one of the individuals responsible, spent less than two years behind bars for this heinous act is an insult to justice and to the memory of Ethan.
As if the system couldn’t disgrace itself further, once freed, Stafford was charged with murder yet again, this time for taking the life of an innocent bystander, Timothy Hutchinson. The charges stem from a shooting in Highland Square that left Hutchinson dead after being hit in crossfire.
What we really need to ask ourselves is how many more lives need to be destroyed before we get serious about law enforcement. Instead of addressing the blatant racial biases that seem to influence decisions within our judicial system, we seem eager to turn a blind eye. If Deshawn Stafford had been a different demographic, would we even be having this conversation? The sad truth is that leniency in the name of “equity” is doing grave injustice to everyone involved. It’s time we consider going back to stricter enforcement like the three-strikes law, which wasn’t designed to oppress but to protect innocent lives.
All too often, judges—many of whom embody a progressive soft-on-crime mentality—seem more interested in giving criminals yet another chance than safeguarding communities. But let’s face it, if you let murderers walk free, guess what happens? They commit more crimes. It’s a vicious cycle that minority communities and white neighborhoods alike cannot afford any longer.
As Stafford’s case tragically underscores, granting leniency isn’t an act of compassion. It’s an act of negligence. We need sober, no-nonsense justice, not only to keep our streets safe but to uphold the principle that taking a life is intolerable, regardless of the victim or the perpetrator’s background. It’s time we demand better, apply the law evenly, and put the safety of law-abiding citizens above the political games that distract us from delivering justice where it’s truly due.
