Labor Day, the one day out of the year that we celebrate all the hard work we do, was intended as a well deserved tribute to the men and women who worked in steel mills, factories, construction, and other such positions that the ruling elite look down on as “manual, menial” careers.  Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1884, a year and an era when unions were necessary, were actually concerned about the workers who paid dues, and not simply seeking political influence.  The sad fact of modern American reality is that most of the jobs that Labor Day was intended to celebrate are now gone.  Government regulations, environmental regulations, and competition from overseas, have shut down the steel mills, the factories, and made life for “blue collar” workers hell. After all, how can a company, burdened with very costly government mandated OSHA and EPA regulations, compete with the prices of a company free from such regulations?  That is why Chinese steel is everywhere, and America is saddled with a “Rust” belt.

When conservatives talk of a free market based economy, they are not talking about NAFTA type treaties.  In 1993, before Bill Clinton signed NAFTA into law, many conservatives were opposed to the treaty.  The resistance was so strong that  the Heritage Foundation had to address it.  Clearly from that article, job creation was expected, as well as the idea that American companies could “take advantage” of Mexico’s “cheap” labor costs.  What does it mean to have a low labor cost, relative to a high labor cost?  In a nut shell, it means that companies can pay their workers less, because they expect less.  Many Americans on the Left and the Right supported that idea.  Payroll is always a companies largest expense, and finding ways to lower that is always high on a CEO’s priority list.  Oddly enough, the entire company benefits from this, a truth the left is reticent to admit.

NAFTA has never been a cause of illegal immigration.  The idea that Mexican farmers cannot compete with American ones is simply mistaken.  In reality, a great many of the fruits and vegetables we enjoy in America come from Mexico, whereas our own American Farmers are given government subsidies to grown nothing.  The root cause of illegal immigration from Mexico is the corruption and crime that is rampant in that nation.  Living in Las Vegas I have had many opportunities to speak with illegal Mexican immigrants, and they have almost all told me that they miss their nation, but “things are too bad there.”  America and our economy have not caused illegal immigration, rather, those men and women have taken a risk and tried to obtain a better life for themselves in a country relatively free from political corruption (at least so far.)  I do not object to that.  I object to them breaking our laws and draining our social safety nets, when our legal citizens are suffering.

Labor Day was meant to celebrate the American worker.  Today, in our globalized economy, the “American worker” is a term that has lost all its meaning.  Despite what Harry Reid said, most of the manual construction and landscape jobs in Las Vegas (and most cities) are done by illegals.  (Reids claim to the contrary surly ranks high among the most stupid things a human being has ever said.) The current blow-up in Arizona has nothing to do with NAFTA, nothing to do with Free Market economics, but everything to do with a states desire to protect its citizens.

Arizona SB 1070 was not written and passed because of racism, or prejudice against “Brown” people.  It was enacted because of the out of control drug violence in Mexico that is spilling over into Arizona and other border states.  When Governor Jan  Brewer requests 3,000 National Guard troops, and is only given 30 (thats 1%) is it any wonder that there is some angst against the Feds?  As for what Sheriff Joe is doing, I say keep it up.  My friends on the left view prison labor as “slave” labor.  This is their choice, just as it is their choice to remain ignorant of the economic realities surrounding the issue.

Billions of dollars are spent each year on our incarcerated population, and each year the tax payers receive higher crime rates and less safe communities as their ROI. What Sheriff Joe is doing is different, it is unique in America today, and it could be the solution to our woes.  If jails are not places people want to go, then perhaps they will think twice about a life of crime.  If prisoners in jail are given a job to do, perhaps they will acquire some life skills and be able to survive in the real world.  It is not about taking advantage of “slave” labor.  Cynicism and sophistry would like to claim it is, but it is about using scarce tax dollars better than we do now.  The current justice system has double digit recidivism rates.   Clearly something needs to change.  As someone diametrically opposed to Direct File and JLWOP I applaud what Sheriff Joe is trying to do.  Children who have made mistakes deserve a chance at a new life after rehabilitation.  Teaching them to work, stick to a schedule, and a marketable skill are far superior tactics than locking them away for decades.

As we celebrate Labor Day on Monday, most people I know will actually be at work.  The banks will be closed, the government will take a three day weekend, but ordinary hard working Americans like me will be at work.  Trying to survive a bone crunching recession caused by misguided democrat housing policies and made worse by a blind reliance on Keynesian economics.

The star of Robert Rodriguez’s new film, Machete, wasn’t always just acting. In a recent interview with TIME, Danny Trejo talks about his career as a juvenile drug addict and armed robber; a career that took him to “every penitentiary in the state of California” before he turned his life around and became a drug counselor in L.A.

Trejo was a real live tough guy whose best friend applied his first prison tattoo with a needle and thread. He changed. As an adult, he’s led a stellar career that has placed him in more than 200 films playing (usually) the villain that he used to see himself as. The irony doesn’t escape him and he laughs off the violence portrayed in Machete by explaining that “[it's] almost funny. It’s not gory. You’re shocked, and then you laugh.”

The fact is that Trejo got lucky. Once they’re in, most kids like him don’t ever get out of the system. Some are relegated to institutions for the rest of their lives for a single mistake. In Colorado alone, there are 49 offenders sentenced to life without parole as children. Yet, some of those kids’ crimes were as innocuous as helping an armed robber like Trejo get away from what turned out to be a botched job. They are the unlucky few.

Many of us have stories like Trejo’s. Many of us had violent or abusive childhoods. Many of us were lucky enough not to get caught up in the system. Don’t we owe the unlucky ones a little understanding? Life sentences for kids–even the ones who were party to a criminal act that resulted in death–are wrong. They deny children the right to make the choice that Trejo made. They deny them the right to become adults.

If Trejo is an example of ‘the worst of the worst’ and he was rehabilitated then our denial of childrens’ humanity and potential for change is a truly sad reality.

Answers.com defines felony murder as:

An unlawful homicide that occurs in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, which is considered first degree murder by operation of this doctrine. In many modern statutes, only homicides that occur in the course of certain specified felonies are “felony murders.”

A Supreme Court ruling in May declared that juvenile life without parole was cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles who committed crimes other than homicide. Already, defense attorneys are using the decision to challenge felony murder doctrine as it applies to juveniles. A recent case filed in York County, Pennsylvania seeks relief for Michael A. Lehman who was 14 when he was sentenced to life in connection with the stabbing death of Kwame Beatty in 1988. Lehman’s attorney has filed a motion arguing for Lehman’s release on the basis that at no time did the state ever allege Lehman carried out the murder.

While the details of the Lehman case are unclear, under Colorado law the rules for charging felony murder include everything from unintended death resulting from arson all the way down to aiding in the immediate flight from a crime scene at which a death occurred.

There are currently at least 12 offenders serving life without parole for felony murders committed as juveniles. While the circumstances of each of these cases is unclear, there are several where the child’s greatest crime was to help a murder suspect leave the scene of the crime. Everyone knows the psychological principles behind ‘fight or flight.’ But dozens of studies show that teens’ decision-making faculties are not fully developed and that full brain maturation does not occur until at least the age of 24.

In light of the recent Supreme Court decision, new scientific evidence around brain research and recent challenges to the felony murder doctrine each case where a child simply sought to flee the scene of the crime (with or without the suspect), needs comprehensive and substantive review to determine if the juveniles in question were fully culpable and deserving of a life sentence.

Noting the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to end juvenile life without parole for non-homicide offenses, the Nebraska Democratic Party recently passed a resolution that adds the elimination of JLWOP to their state legislative platform.

The Nebraska resolution states, in part, that:

WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has again, in Graham v. Florida, reaffirmed the fundamental differences between youth and adults in their ability to exercise judgment, foresee consequences and resist peer pressure, and

WHEREAS the Court has also noted the greater capacity of youth to change, thereby making it impossible to determine at sentencing that a youth cannot be reformed…

THEREFORE be it resolved that the Democratic Party in Nebraska support legislative efforts to eliminate sentences of life without possibility of parole for crimes committed by a youth who has not yet reached the age of 18.

While Colorado eliminated Juvenile LWOP several years ago, the state still practices direct file and consecutive sentencing that can amount to virtual life sentences for kids. In Grand County, 15-year-old John Caudle is being tried as an adult and faces 80 years for allegedly slaying his abusive parents. Children like Caudle cannot forsee the consequences of their actions and have great capacity to learn from their mistakes. They should not, therefore, be subject to abusive practices like consecutive 40 year sentences that ultimately just mean another life lost at great taxpayer expense. Supreme Court members noted the limited scope of their decision by citing Colorado’s consecutive sentencing practices. An adult sentence, whether it is 40, 80, or 120 years for a juvenile does not account for an individual child’s capacity to change.

There is probably no soul sorrier for its master’s mistakes than is John Caudle’s. But the question is: Does his soul deserve redemption or condemnation? And is it the state of Colorado’s purview to make such lasting and ill-begotten judgments on its children? Every religion in the world teaches love and forgiveness and yet here we are as a state encouraging, seeking, enforcing and even disguising the basest revenge we can possibly imagine.  The Nebraska Democratic Party clearly isn’t afraid to face its demons. StopDirectFile.org hopes that in next legislative session, Colorado too can come to terms with its own, very fallible humanity.

Alamosa Prosecutor Dan McIntyre wants us to believe that if John Caudle killed his mother and step father it was over a dispute about chores. That would tie things up nicely.  Never mind that the child he wants to try as an adult spent 14 years enduring severe neglect and abuse.

According to a recent interview with family friend Cecile Dinsmore in The Valley Courier, Caudle’s mother Joanne Rinebarger was an abusive drug addict who “killed every bit of joy in [John's] life, and took everything that he loved away from him as punishment.”

…But never mind all that because what is really on trial in the case of the State of Colorado vs. John Caudle is really justice vs. politics; right vs. wrong. McIntyre is seeking two consecutive 40 year sentences. Unless he expects Caudle to live to be 95 in prison, that’s a slow death sentence. McIntyre needs us to believe that he’s trying a “monster” because that is the only thing that justifies the monstrous vengeance he’s seeking.

More than anything, McInTyre needs us to believe that monstrous vengeance is justified. If we don’t believe that vengeance is necessary then he can’t justify it to himself. Like most prosecutors, McIntyre knows that kids are different from adults. He knows there are numerous studies (see references) that show  kids are prone to risky, emotionally driven behavior. McIntyre knows that adolescents, while maturing, are not mature enough to make adult decisions in the heat of the moment.

Finally, McIntyre knows that using the practice of direct file to mete out cruel and unusual punishment to John Caudle is unconscionable. If John Caudle killed his mother and his step father then he ought to be incarcerated, but he shouldn’t be warehoused in cold storage for the rest of his life. As a child, Caudle deserves a chance at redemption.

Trying Caudle as an adult using direct file is wrong. McIntyre knows the difference between right and wrong; he just doesn’t care.

In the end, everything that Dan McIntyre knows makes him more of a monster than John Caudle will ever be.