Was justice really served in Isaac case?
Our entire family has waited over a year and a half for Ronell Isaac to be brought to trial. Since the morning of Oct. 12, 2006, our lives, as we knew them, ended. A horrible roller coaster ride began, filled with court delays throughout the many months that followed that tragic morning. It has been a nightmare for our entire family.
Now that Isaac has been found guilty we should be thankful, yet he was only found guilty of a lesser charge, not the premeditated attempted murder that he was originally charged with. As a result, Isaac will spend far less time in prison than he deserves.
Everyone who knows my daughter, Georgenia, knows the truth. She was the victim of continuous harassment and stalking by Isaac for two years prior to that tragic morning. No one has that right to take another person”s life. God was on Georgenia”s side that morning and gave her the strength to survive Isaac”s murderous attack.
Although Georgenia is still having medical problems as a result of her wounds, those wounds will heal. But she will forever be scared with the memory of that awful morning. Her entire family was and still are the victims.
How just is our legal system when it is the victims of a crime who are the ones sentenced for the rest of their lives? Time may fade the tragedy, but the pain will always be endured in one form or another, forever. The legal system is not justice, it is only the law. Who really pays the price?
Georgenia”s four children were the innocent victims of Isaac”s murderous attack. Those four children were pulled from their classrooms that awful morning and never had a chance to say “Good-bye” to anyone.
One minute their lives were happy and carefree, the next minute their being swept away for their own protection. Someone they had known their entire lives tried to kill their mother. How difficult for their young minds to understand. Their lives were turned inside out, being torn from their family and friends like that.
The nightmares have lessened over time, yet they will never fully go away.
The people affected by Isaac”s actions reach far beyond our immediate family. So many lives were touched in a negative way that morning. The other innocent victims of Isaac”s attack included all the students and staff at Burns Valley School who were put on lock down for hours. Isaac had no regard for anyone that morning; his only quest was to commit murder.
There were key pieces of evidence left out of the trial, for reasons which we will never understand. Certain facts were not told to the jurors, which I”m sure would have made a difference. Georgenia”s clothing was not shown. Major facts that could have easily been clarified, were left out. Is that really justice? I have no faith in our legal system.
On behalf of our entire family, we would like to say thank you to everyone who offered their support and helped us get through those awful first few hours and days.
Isaac”s actions that awful morning of Oct. 12, 2006, included many more victims than just the two people he shot. I do not believe that Isaac or his family will ever understand how unfair his actions were, or how many innocent lives he hurt.
Lynn Faith
Clearlake
Where were the veterans?
On Monday, May 26, America celebrated Memorial Day. However, I fear that the “memorial” in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us. As President of the United Veterans Council, comprised of representatives of the various veterans organizations in Lake County, I am disappointed in the small turnout at the memorial services conducted at the several cemeteries in the county. And, I am more than a little ashamed that so few veterans came out to pay respect for their fallen comrades. After all, there are in excess of 6,000 veterans making their home in Lake County according to the Lake County Veterans Service Office.
Memorial Day should be more than just the start of summer, more than just part of a three-day weekend, more than hot dogs and beer and sunburn. It is a chance for grateful citizens to pause and remember the sacrifices, to remember the gallantry, the bravery, to remember the fallen — a day where we remember those Americans who have paid the price for the blessings of liberty we enjoy.
While we can never truly repay those who protected our country and our freedom through their ultimate sacrifice, we can honor them not only by remembering them, but by ensuring that we are worthy of their sacrifice.
With freedom comes responsibility, responsibility to ensure that our freedom is maintained. Freedom is never free, but comes at a cost of lives, of time, of effort and of responsibility. President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn”t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Over the past century, more than 35 million men and women have answered the call to arms — World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq, and countless unnamed military engagements. More than half a million of these brave men and women never came home. Some died in battle, others died in captivity; all died too soon, much too soon.
Recent military action in Afghanistan and Iraq has offered fresh reminders of the human cost of war: ordinary men and women leaving homes and families and professions to risk their lives for an ideal of honor, or duty, or just to protect their buddy next to them. People of goodwill may forever debate the merits of any given war, police action, or humanitarian mission. But, there should be no debate about our debt to the hundreds of thousands of our citizens who have made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives heeding the nation”s call to service.
President John F. Kennedy once said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
But all too often we fail to remember, we fail to honor.
May God continue to bless America.
Frank Parker, president
United Veterans Council of Lake County
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