Most people need jobs. In our economic system, the best way to secure the funds necessary for food and shelter is to perform a service in exchange for money.

Some members of families don’t have to work because at least one person is bringing in enough cheese to cover the rest. Or for the rich or retired, they just happen to have enough money to sustain themselves for an appropriate period of time.

Chris Henry should fall into that last group. He’s a professional football player who has collected a good amount of cash over the last few years playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. Of course that was before he was arrested multiple times and eventually kicked off the team.

A judge says he “obviously needs to find employment,” and thus the court is going to give him “some latitude” on his current house arrest.

In his latest scrape with the law, Henry is facing charges for assault and criminal damaging from an incident where police say he punched a student in the head and damaged the man’s car. This is the same guy who was suspended for eight NFL games last season because of his previous arrests.

Definitely sounds like someone who deserves “latitude.” I’ve never been to Henry’s home, but I’m guessing he’s probably doing OK for himself. I imagine there are more than a few people in the United States who could get by with the resources he has on hand, without bringing in new paychecks.

We really should be giving leeway to someone who served a combined two days in jail for multiple gun charges–including assault with a firearm–providing alcohol to minors, multiple traffic offenses and drug possession. Yeah that’s a guy who needs special treatment from the criminal justice system.

Maybe we should give a hand to some other people looking for jobs, those who don’t have a history of criminal activity and haven’t been given multiple chances to learn what it means to be a productive member of society.