Pity The Poor Thugs

AP reports, as France braces itself for a 13th night of violence,

Human rights groups fear fast-track trials like the ones held in Bobigny this week could fuel a sense of injustice among the defendants, most of them French-born children of Arab and black African immigrants who already feel shunned by a country that promised them "liberty, equality, fraternity."

They might want to discuss injustice with the lady on the right in this NYTimes photo, whose husband was murdered by thugs. They might want to discuss fraternity with the man on the left, who survived his injuries from that beating.

But moving on, AP quotes Jean-Pierre Dubois, president of the League of Human Rights, that the government is dealing out justice more quickly than doles.

"I am afraid that public authorities are currently playing with fire," he said in a telephone interview. "It is a well known fact that prison is a place where you learn how to commit more serious crimes."

It is also a well-known fact that prison is a place where you cannot kill innocent people who aren't in prison, shoot shotguns at police officers, or burn churches, businesses and cars.

No need for the ACLU to set up offices in France. The French already have a stupidity franchise up and running.