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a historic data point in this regard in our nation’s history in the Dred Scott decision.

But in this case, the police officers were Black.

How about if we ask if each of those policemen felt they live in a world with a Creator and that every human being is a creation made in that Creator’s image? If they believed this, could they have done what they did?

Rep. Jim Jordan summed it up well saying, “I don’t know there is anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video.”

Something very bad has happened in our country.

This nation was founded as a free country under God, not as a “system.” The Constitution is an operating manual creating the basic structure of government and to assure that it would be kept limited and not interfere with citizens taking personal responsibility and living free.

Yes, it began with the horrible reality of slavery. But this reflected the sin of man and not a systematic flaw in the country.

George Washington said it, and I quote him all the time, that there is no freedom without religion.

But today we are going in the opposite direction. We want to use courts and legislatures to produce systematic answers to our lives rather than turning to our parents and our pastors for eternal principles. The answer is not in the system; it is in ourselves.

Regarding the police, they need more personal responsibility for their behavior.

One path to this is getting rid of qualified immunity, which shields them from exposure to lawsuits. Qualified immunity allows police to violate constitutional rights of others without concern they will be sued. Per this judge-created doctrine, as long as there is not another identical precedent, with all the same facts, police are immune from being sued.

Unions protect policemen with a track record of infractions, and then qualified immunity protection allows them to go out and do it again.

This is the most important technical reform that can improve police behavior.

But we must remember, good men will produce good results even in a bad system.

But bad men, even in the most perfectly designed system, will produce bad results.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www. creators.com.