Yes, he was given many opportunities to get his act together, and many more than a 'normal' person would have been given. However, when you pluck a child with such a troubled upbringing with little/no role models to shape his young life, there needs to be a better system in place to assist these young people in becoming more productive outside of the scope of their talents.
We've come a long way in regard to mental health issues, but what might have been in Lawrence's all too young life is now gone forever. It's a constant strain that we, as a society, need to begin to address sooner rather than later.
Imagine his life with some inpatient rehab and sincere counseling to affect his brain and correct the faulty wiring in his brain after what most knew was a horrible tragedy waiting to happen when he assaulted Kate McEwen? I know Coach Osbourne struggles mightily with his decisions at the time, but given the people within the Huskers organization and what we knew then, I'm not sure much would have been done differently.
This shining star of a young man was extinguished far too soon, and watching the far too smug and conceited attorney who prosecuted him regarding the murder of his cell mate only reiterates my belief that once a man is behind bars, his life is viewed as 'less than' and tossed in the shredder. Perhaps he did murder his cell mate, perhaps not, but what this young man needed in his life was a little compassion, a little empathy, and a little psychiatric assistance.
What led him to this cold, dark place was many mistakes with little assistance to get him the help he truly needed to be free of the past that seemed hell-bent on destruction.
Prison reforms are a great place to start, increasing counseling opportunities when these tendencies first arise, and close monitoring prior to escalation that was and still is clearly evident in our everyday lives. We pay college coaches in most states better than we do our governing bodies, and while STEM programs have been pushed ad nauseum, what we need is more focus on a strained-to-the-point-of-breaking mental healthcare professionals.
Throwing fistfuls of money at our issues is a hubris that's led to our own undoing- perhaps now, we should be looking for REAL solutions to repair what can only be described as a cataclysmic failure to ensure the least of us have a chance at not only surviving, but thriving.
Lawrence Phillips is a cautionary tale for anyone paying attention that, unless we begin working together to ensure those with mental health struggles can receive the help they so desperately need, we shall be left with more sorrowful and heartbreaking tales of watching them fall through the cavernous cracks that await them, and take our society down in the process.
It's worth noting that I view myself as right-of-center, and truly believe the death penalty should be abolished. We've seen far too many innocent men completely exonerated to ever be comfortable with executing another life.
