Jessica Lunsford

I am a Lunsford, that is to say my great-granmotehr was a Lunsford, from the hills of Clay County Kentucky. Whether or not I am closely or even related at all to this family, though, I am not sure, but the name caused the case in Florida to get my attention, more so than such cases ordinaily do. And, like Bill O'Reilley, on Fox News' The O'Reilley factor, I am more than a little pissed off that these cretins held this eight year old girl in a trailor for at least three days, pretending they didn't know that the one woman's brother, John Evander Cooey, a convicted sex offender, was staying there, when the sheriffs department deputies came to check out the place. All the time, Jessica was hidden there, in a closet, where Cooey held her for those three days, repeatedly raping her, in who knows how many different vile and despicable ways. Before he left town, courtesy of a bus ticket purchased by his sister, he buried her alive in the back yard. His sister, niece, and sisters boyfriend, all claim they knew nothing about his holding her in the closet of the room in which he slept, but this seems unlikely. According to one report, they were seen at a neighborhood dive, laughing and cracking jokes about the case of the missing girl.

Yet, Brad King, the prosecutor in the case, claims that he is unable to prosecute them, even though they lied about Cooeys whereabouts. Maybe so, it could be his hands were tied by the restraints of then current Florida law. Worse, Cooey was not read his rights, apparently (though I'm not all together certain abut this), and was refused access to a lawyer when he requested one (which I am very certain of). So, his entire confession may be thrown out. Incompentence reigns supreme from day one, and has only recently began to come to the surface. But I believe there are aspects of this case that O'Reilley even hasn't mentioned (though I would be very shocked if he has not considered them)

Cooey's sister, niece, and sister's boyfriend are all drug users, in fact they are crack heads. According to Cooey, the whole lot of them, including himself, were high at the pertinent time in question. That brings up an interesting proposition. I have long been aware, and I would think that it is pretty much common knowledge, that in order for a drug culture to thrive in any given town or area, the people in power, including law enforcement, have to at the very least turn a blind eye to the problem. More often than not, they are more or less active participants. In all cases, the chances are better than not that palms are being greased, with cold hard cash. In other words, without coming right out and making the accusation, I have to wonder whether Sheriff Dawsey, or individuals within his department, or both, might have been all too willing to turn a blind eye however reluctantly- to what should have been an obvious and understanably suspicious set of circumstances. Turn a blind eye, and hope it turns out okay. Hope that if the girl does turn up raped, and murdered, it would be in another neighborhood, due to the machinations of a suspect or suspects previously unknown to them.

Crack cocaine, like all other drugs of abuse, is a very lucrative market in very uncertain times. And the people who stand to gain-or lose-from it's vitality, are more than just the dealers, most of the time, there are shadowy forces at work. Way too often, they are forces that should be shining beacons of light and justice, but all too often may turn out to be the boogeyman inside the closet.