In three high profile cases this years, Orange County has become the intense focus of the boundaries of a free society, and a society in need of security and boundaries.
First the Irvine Eleven, in which the same number of Muslim students actively disrupted the UCI-sponsored speech of David Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States.
Then Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic, was savagely beaten by two Fullerton police officers, who showed the mental patient little remorse.
And now, the Seal Beach shooting, a mass murder perpetrated in the quiet Beach Side community of Northwestern Orange County. A revenge killing spree, the murder suspect implicated in the shooting was retaliating against his ex-wife, locked in a bitter custody battle over their eight-year old son.
The district attorney Tony Rackauckas has had to field a number of pressing and politically charged cases this year. The strain has become apparent, to the point where in one press conference the District Attorney practically reenacted the beating that Mr. Kelly endure at the hands of the Fullerton Police. In the press conference reporting on the Seal Beach shootings, the DA had to hold back his tears.
My heart goes out to the legal staff making every effort to protect the Orange County community and hold accountable all wrong doers who insist on violating the rights of their fellow citizens.
Mr. Rackauckas, I appreciate the work that you are doing for Orange County, and the example you are setting for the legal community throughout the country. I pray that you and your team will handle these cases judiciously and expediently so that justice will be done for all who have been tragically affected.