Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

Here is what I have ultimate respect for in our judicial system: Innocent until proven guilty. Whenever I have been called for jury duty, which has been about once a year for the past twenty years, inevitably I end up in that box where defending and prosecuting attorneys pepper the perspective juror (me) with questions. Inevitably, one or the other will land on the fact that I am a teacher and they ask if I am fair and impartial when it comes to handing out consequences on the playground. The answer has been, all those years, the same: I certainly try. That presumed innocence is the part with which I struggle. The shredded bulletin boards in the hallway where I have seen a third grade boy alone only moments before. The crying kindergartner holding her eye pointing at the second grader who has a history of not keeping his hands to himself. I want to bring blind justice to bear on these incidents, but I know in my heart that swift is often better than blind for a barrel full of reasons.
In response to the question: Fair? Yes. Impartial? Not always.
Which is what troubles me most deeply about the idea of "experts" being trained to carry guns in schools as depicted in the comic book of policy put forth by our "President." This came at the same instant that he began to drift away from his commitment to raising the age for buying guns from eighteen to twenty-one. That part of the legislation that would have limited access to guns was essentially replaced by the introduction of more guns. On the hips of "rigorously trained" educators. The "President" babbled on about how gun-free zones mean nothing because that's exactly where these bad guys go because they know they will meet little or no resistance. Leaving daycare facilities and churches as the next logical targets. Hopefully it will be just a few moments before the suggestion is made that care providers at both of these stops will be packing heat before the month is up.
Because the chances of getting it wrong is so very high. I know that I have sat kids on the bench when they just happened to have red paint on their hands. I know that the number of times that an "expert" at one of these schools has to get this wrong to prove the whole system false is once. Innocent bystanders in a school number in the hundreds. That is what makes them such attractive targets. I have an armful of students who tell me, upon being caught in the middle of a dust-up on the yard, "My mom told me I have to hit back." Exchange the verb "hit" for "shoot" and suddenly we discover the problem with this logic.
In courtrooms across the country, metal detectors and "airport-style-security" is in place to ensure the safety of all those involved in the judicial system. And yet, people are shot in courtrooms across the country. Most recently, a defendant in Utah leaped up to attack a witness in his trial. With a pen. An armed marshal in the room shot the defendant four times, ending the attack. And the trial. I admit, it sure makes that guy look guilty. I guess that will have to do for proof.