Dear Editor: Do You Believe in Justice?

Dear Editor,

Do you believe in justice? Let me tell you a story.

One there was a young lady, barely 19 years old. This lady had developed mental illness due to a couple of very traumatic events in the last year and a half. She was diagnosed, but soon quit taking her medication.

She thought that she was okay. But soon enough, the trouble started (delusions, voices, etc.). She had several encounters with tlocal police (they know her byt name.) They knew that the young lady was mentally ill. So she became an easy target, one that always paid her fines and bail. Then one day, her demons (the invisible people) got the best of her, and she had a psychotic break.

The police were called and asked to take her to a mental health facility or hospital, as she was having a mental breakdown. The officers asked what had happened. The lady's parents explained her illness. The officers insisted they had to take her to jail, and they were going to charge her with a PFMA. The parents were grateful that she would finally get the help she needed, as the officers said they would get her an assessment.

The next day, she went to her initial court appearance in front of a judge she had seen before who "didn't like her" because she had yelled at him in court previously. Now, the young lady's parents were expecting a PFMA charge. But this young lady suffering from a mental health breakdown instead had four arson charges and two PFMAs-enough charges to put her in prison for 80 years and a $200,000 bond. There were no fines before or after her arrest, and he parents did not want to press charges.

Right now, the lady is sitting in jail, scared to death. Her very life is resting in the hands of a judge who doesn't like her, based on false statements made by the arresting officers (who were probably trying to make their monthly quotas).

Unfortunately, this is a true story happening right here in Jefferson County, Montana.

So this is how justice works in Jefferson County?

AULIEA HANLON

Whitehall, Montana