Justice is Served

I had an interesting experience today. I am currently doing some property management work and unfortunately we had to evict someone because they refused to pay their rent. It was an unpleasant and onerous task. There is a very specific procedure you must follow to evict someone as the courts want to be fair to both landlords and tenants (with a little more protection given tenants, which I think is great).

At any rate, we followed the procedure to the letter, meticulously documented everything, filed our claim, and waited for our day in court. Oftentimes tenants don't even bother to show up for the hearing - many simply use the time it takes to get them removed as more time to live for free. The party today who was our tenant did show up though, and he came well prepared and seemed eager to defend himself. Thankfully he didn't have a leg to stand on and justice prevailed as the judge agreed with us that he owed the rent. We were granted possession of the premises, a judgment for the rent owed us, and our court costs.

I felt good as I drove home after the "trial." I didn't feel good about the guy having to move out; I feel sorry for him. But I felt good that everyone had their say in court and that justice was served. Our nation's laws and system of governance is not perfect; in fact many argue that things are bleaker than ever right now in that area. I'm not writing to join in that argument, or to attack or defend anyone. I am writing instead because I am proud to be an American; I'm glad that in our country we enjoy the right of due process; the right to have wrongs made right. These rights are rare privileges that few citizens of other nations enjoy.

And so I prayed as I drove home. I thanked God for America and I asked him to keep his hand upon us...."one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all." May we never take those hallowed words, or what they mean, for granted.