For want of a million bucks, Eve Carson is dead.
Of all the things great and small the Down East kleptocracy purposely opted to spend money on, spend hundreds of millions of dollars on, a functioning criminal probation system was not one of them. One of the basic functions of a state government, any government, was allowed to lapse because no one would get rich or re-elected by funding it.
Every member of the General Assembly today — right now — needs to print out a copy of Joseph Neff’s incredibly sad story, fold it up, and put it in their pocket. They need to carry it with them to Raleigh.
Then, any time they are asked to spend public money, to discharge their duty as stewards of the public trust and protectors of civil society, they need to re-read Neff’s story. And think. Hard.
Think and ask themselves, “What would Eve want?”
