I don't think I could ever be proud to call myself an American... I guess it's lucky then that I wasn't born into the USA. I find the injustices within your legal system intolerable. Although no system can probably ever result in consistently fair outcomes, I believe the justice system Australia employs (which as you know, is based on the English system)is much fairer, and doesn't promote plea bargains. Here we are truly 'innocent until proven guilty' as the onus is on the prosecution to prove guilt, not on the accused to prove themselves innocent, or to 'pretend' to be be guilty to be sentenced to lesser time. And if someone is proven to be wrongly imprisoned they receive significant financial compensation, not a further deal to plead guilty... my mind simply can't make sense of that stance AT ALL.

I agree with you when you say, there should be MASSIVE public outcry... why is there not!? Could it be because none of us like to accept that we have been wrong? that the systems we rely on to govern our societies are broken? I do know, when reading stories such as this one, I get a feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach and think 'if it could happen to them, it could happen to me' and I wonder if that's too confronting form many to face as we have a need to trust in the systems that govern us..? I was speaking to a work colleague the other day about gun laws & of course the US always features in that conversation :) he was saying that with great freedoms comes a great price (I'd never thought about it like that before) & from the perspective of an outsider, it seems to me that many of you are sadly paying that price. It then occurred to me that America may have been a very different place, perhaps even a more civilised place, if you had not fought off the English in the 1700s. After all, when they were defeated there, they travelled here to my homelands and the end result speaks volumes.

Although I'm not one to usually make controversial statements, these reoccurring incidents anger me. They shouldn't be still happening today and I can't help but think that the 'freedoms' America prides itself on are perhaps just propaganda. In my view, The US is doing an atrocious job at defending the freedoms of its people, and talk is cheap. I want to see America stand up for it's people! Come together and Protect each other! Every life is valuable and that was the message I believe Louis Taylor was sending when he was rescuing those people from that burning building. I wish him well.

I received your letter this week Daniel & have downloaded the movie you were speaking about. I want to watch it before I write back but, as always, I really enjoyed reading your words and hearing what's on your mind. I will write soon.

Take Care!
Nicki

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