Watch this piece from about four months ago. I will not post any comments about beliefs that JonBenet’s parents or brother committed this crime, so don’t even bother. Twenty-five years later, the same detectives in Boulder are holding on to the case. Step aside if you will not agree to have the evidence in this little girl’s case retested by a sophisticated third-party lab with capabilities far beyond the state lab. JonBenet deserves every effort by Boulder PD, not game playing by an agency that has been unable to solve this 25-year-old homicide.
Responsibility, Accountability and Transparency
A lot has been written in legal, ethical and leadership circles about responsibility, accountability and transparency. Or, as I like to refer to it, RAT.
One 2011 law review article crystalized the importance of addressing these concerns in the context of the abhorrent practices in the prison system in the South. The authors’ observations and conclusions transfer to government officials in any context and all over the nation (be it “up North” in Oakland County or “out West” in Colorado Springs):
First, no good comes from permitting government officials to perform their duties in secret. Second, officials who have been accustomed to operating without accountability are loath to relinquish the power that comes from conducting their business without public scrutiny. Third, when public officials resist efforts to shine a light on their activities, there is often something to hide. Fourth, public scrutiny is often a prerequisite for changing harmful, entrenched practices.
Geraghty & Velez, 22 Stan. L. & Pol’y Rev. 455 (6/5/2011)