By Wendy McElroy
Last month, an international rights tribunal slapped America across the face through a showcase ruling that has no legal force. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that Jessica Lenahan could sue the Castle Rock, Colorado, police department for its refusal in 1999 to enforce a restraining order against her estranged husband. The American courts had dismissed her case.
The tribunal's finding has reignited the discussion of a decades-old tragedy. But the issue is being cast as an expose of America's domestic-violence policies. It is more accurately an example of the extreme disconnect between the public and the police when it comes to preventing violence. The public cries, "That's your job!" The police reply, "Tell it to the judge." And American judges have consistently ruled that the police have no obligation to protect you.
The tribunal's ruling reveals a common confusion about the purpose of law enforcement in America. Lenahan claims that the police have a legal obligation to protect her from violence and so, they were delinquent in their duty. In reality, protecting people is not the mission of law enforcement. Their purpose is to enforce the law, to administer the will of the state.
Where did this near-schizophrenic view of law enforcement come from? The Lenahan case offers some insight.
Source: Mises.org
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