People love to hate on Annie Dookhan.
You know what though?
Annie Dookhan was a Vigilante. In other words, she was more like Batman than the criminal they tried to make her out to be.
She isn't a villain. She broke the law, yes. But was it for her own profit? No it was to put drug dealers in jail. Now everyone has to jump all over her, like, "But she put innocent people in jail."
Look. the state didn't want to spend money on chemists so the lab was understaffed and frankly, Annie Dookhan seemed to be the only one working. It turns out she was cheating. She was just returning the drugs and saying they were drugs without actually testing them because it was easier and it helped get the conviction quicker. Because here is how it would work.
I mean just think about it.
A person would be arrested carrying a substance that looked like drugs. She would return a a piece of paper that said, "Yep it's drugs" I guess without testing it.
Not testing the drugs was her crime.
People have done a lot worse than that. Would everyone have jumped all over her if she were a man? What if she were actually an officer on the street with a uniform and a gun instead of just a female chemist in the lab. She held a very important role in the wheels of the justice system... and she cut corners. But you she didn't shoot anyone. Not on purpose and not by accident. She just said, Yeah this white powder is drugs. If anything, she was lazy. But since she was the only one actually working... she was cutting corners the way Batman does. We don't jump all over Batman.
So anyway.. the cert comes back and the drug dealer pleads out. Because even if Annie didn't test the drugs... shoot THAT guy knew it was drugs. He was SELLING them. The only reason why it fell apart because I guess someone must have been carrying fake drugs and they were like, "Hold on... I know that wasn't really drugs." and the man behind the curtain is revealed.
So yes all those drug dealers can now go free. The papers said "Murderers will go free on the street! There will be Chaos!"
First of all there are ALWAYS murderers or potential murderers on the street. In fact you talk like murderers are a particular kind of person and not just a normal part of humanity. Serial killers yes.. And a lot of the murderers that get caught murdering, I guess. But a lot of murderers are people who happened to have committed murder. And these murderers that go free, were obviously not even convicted of murder... otherwise they would not go free. They were convicted of selling drugs.
Basically a bunch of drug dealers get a second chance. I mean they still had to serve two years or whatever. But now they go free. People got up in arms. "This will cost millions to re-try these cases.
Why are we re-trying these cases like we don't ALWAYS have new cases to try because there are ALWAYS people selling drugs, and there HAS always been people selling drugs since the creation of currency. These people caught a bad break when they got caught. And they caught a good break when they happen to fall into this category where they got off a years or decades early. Now, if they sell drugs again, they will be watched more carefully and they will go to jail again.
If they decide not to sell more drugs and adjust to become normal citizens after having only spent a few years in jail... oh wait isn't that sort of what the system is supposed to do? Woe to society if they readjust without serving their full term. Is it fair? Arguable. But it is what it is. It's not the most unfair thing that ever happened. It's not even necessarily a bad thing.
But it happened. Okay. Why is it that whenever a woman commits a crime like this. A cutting corners crime they are like, "She is the most horrible person ever." Again, she was sticking her neck out and taking a risk for the benefit of society to try and make the system flow more smoothly. Most of these cases plea out, and the only reason you wouldn't plea out is because you knew the substance you were carrying wasn't drugs... which means.. you were selling fake drugs. Which means in addition to being a drug dealer, you are a cheat. You're not innocent. You are just a criminal among criminals breaking unspoken laws among the dealer and buyer, scamming the buyer. So what that makes you better than a drug dealer? I don't think so.
I'm not saying she shouldn't be punished. But jail time seems harsh for what it was... I mean basically drug dealers went to jail (and then were released early) because of her. And I guess a few people caught with a drug like substance that they were trying to pawn off as drugs also went to jail for selling drugs... when their crime was selling fake drugs. So isn't just losing her job and maybe getting fined enough? I mean when people cut corners with evidence.... what is usually the punishment.
So when I see a tweet about a Chemist that was actually consuming drugs.. ie. stealing drugs from the STATE and using. Stealing from the State essentially, and that is compared to Annie Dookhan... that kind of pisses me off. Annie Dookhan broke the law. She served her time. That is justice in a way. But even if what she did was illegal and had to be punished, in my eyes she was a hero and then a scapegoat and now people like to drag her name through the mud even after she already served her time. How many people do you know that went to jail just to try and make Justice swift without any monetary compensation?
I mean you can't equate what she did with stuff I've heard from the 70's. Like they the chemist to say, "Nope it's flour" So hard core drug dealers who were well connected with the police wouldn't go to jail.
You know what else I heard went on in the 70's? They would kill people and give the guns to the police to handle it, to make it disappear. That was corruption. Was Annie Corrupt? No. She wasn't getting paid and she was doing the opposite. The final outcome when she got caught was that people were released early and some people went to jail who shouldn't have. (Again why do you have cash and a drug like substance that is not a drug? You are playing some sort of game on Halloween? I think not.)
Essentially she went to jail for trying to make the world better. Perhaps she was misguided. But she is no villain.
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