There is an old adage in the legal community: “A district attorney could indict a ham sandwich in front of a grand jury.” The grand jury system was intended to be a check on the government by requiring an approval by a group of citizens for indictments (indeed, this protection is enshrined in the Fifth Amendment), but there are some quirks to it that give truth to the adage. First, there is no judge or magistrate present at grand jury hearings; it is only the DA and the grand jury. Second, these meetings are not open to the public, nor are their records; in fact, they are not even available to the person being investigated by the grand jury. Third, the accused does not have the right to know they are being investigated by the grand jury, or to be present either in person or through legal counsel. Fourth, the prosecutor is under no obligation to present all the evidence or any evidence at all that might be exculpatory (that is, that might cause the jurors to have doubt about the potential guilt of the accused). It’s understandable, then, why the old adage exists: what was originally intended to be a safeguard against the prosecutorial power of the government has developed into something less. Prosecutors can get pretty much whatever result from a grand jury they desire. Such seems to have occurred in Houston, Texas, this past week when it was learned the grand jury investigating Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast not only cleared that organization of any wrongdoing in terms of providing fetal tissue and organs for profit, but actually returned bills of indictment against the investigatory filmmakers who uncovered those practices.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” says the prophet Isaiah (5:20). I think it is difficult to make the case that we, as a society, are not slipping more and more into such an attitude. While there was some outrage expressed over the videos which revealed Planned Parenthood’s barbaric practices, it seemed largely contained to the evangelical portion of the population. Where outrage existed outside of that community, it evaporated as quickly as the news cycle moved on to the next story. Even though forensic analysis demonstrated the videos were not manipulated in order to present a misleading story, the prosecution and grand jury apparently decided not to pursue what the videos clearly showed: an attempt from PP to strategically sell tissue and organs in order to receive the largest amount of compensation possible (one video showed a PP executive saying she was pursuing the best remuneration because, “I want to buy a Lamborghini”). Instead, they shifted their attention to those who sought to shine a light on this inconceivable aspect of an already horrific practice. If this is not putting darkness for light and light for darkness, I’m not sure what would qualify. Whether the charges stand or are dismissed is now in the hands of the court system, and so we must pray for justice to prevail.
While these stories can threaten to cause us to throw up our hands and lose hope, we must remember our faith and theology. Our joy is not contingent on the ebb and flow of the news cycle and our hope is not in the government. We can indeed be heartbroken over the sin and callousness toward sin we are witnessing, and it should drive us to our knees in prayer for not only the heart change of our political leadership and nation, but for the quick return of our Lord as well. Just something to think about…
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