For courtroom dramas, see Netflix
THE justice system in a democracy is not as exciting or dramatic as it is often depicted in movies or TV shows. The democratic justice system’s hallmarks are due process and rule of law. These aim to protect all of us from the capricious exercise of power — from abuse of power.
The exact opposite of a democratic justice system is “mob justice.” And its loudest proponents include those unaware that the “slowness” of the legal process, and the high legal standards set by law and previous court rulings protect all of us from arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, among other unpleasant things that those in power can inflict on ordinary citizens. (See history of humanity.)
In the case of the CNMI AG’s office, it can’t file charges against the governor just because his political opponents, other critics and online commentators say so every day. Even the evidence and the “facts” they claim to possess are still and must be subject to legal (not political) review.
The charges against the governor, says the AG, “follow months of thorough investigation by the Office of the Attorney General Investigative Division. The next steps in the process will be to have Governor Torres arraigned and allow the case to proceed in accordance with the criminal justice system. As this is now an active case, neither I, nor my office, can provide further comments.”
And that is how it should be.
It’s an election year, and the political circus may be back in town, but the tents are up there on Capital Hill, and not at the courthouse.
This just in. Math is not optional
AMONG the good news this week: CEDA — “the CNMI’s lead agency for economic development” — has hired an economic development manager.
It is not as compelling, and definitely not as theatrical, as politics, but economic development efforts should be the Commonwealth’s primary focus. The CNMI must revive its economy. Its perennially bloated and overspending yet still overpromising government must still pay its never-ending obligations to local residents — with or without generous federal assistance.
The CNMI government must find ways to increase the revenue it collects from a still struggling private sector. The CNMI government must stop raising fees or taxes, imposing new ones, mandating more restrictions and/or further raising the costs of doing business in this small, remote jurisdiction with a small population and a small economy.
No matter what happens this year — and regardless of the election results — the CNMI government’s main “problem” today will be the same next year, and in subsequent years: it must make regular payments to the NMI Settlement Fund; it must pay for medical referrals; it must fund PSS, NMC, scholarships, public safety, public works, the justice system, among many other things. And as the islands’ largest employer of voters, the CNMI government is expected to continue to hire more of them, and to pay them more.
According to the FY 2022 budget, the funding allotment for the governor’s office was $1.5 million. The governor is accused of “misspending” the funds provided to his office, and some arithmetically challenged folks imply that this alleged “misspending” is one of the main causes of the government’s financial problems. For FY 2022, however, the CNMI government’s obligation to the Settlement Fund alone was over $39 million. Do the math, as a former governor once put it. Which is good advice, incidentally, especially for lawmakers who seem to believe that there’s nothing wrong about de-funding the tourism agency of a government dependent on the tourism industry.
Do the math indeed.
