Lifted

I'm listening a to a program on shoplifting the 18th century, based on the trial transcripts at the Old Bailey. Shops had just been opened, and shopping was the fashionable thing to do. The shop keepers were so worried about crime that they managed to get a law passed through parliament, making shoplifting a crime that could be punished by execution. I know this sounds ridiculous now, but no more than imprisoning someone for life in America, for stealing a pair of socks and earning their third strike.
 Of course there are people who do this for a living, but this law, like so many others, lands hardest on the shoulders of the poor. There may come a day when the world is balanced, and fair. Really? Not in our lifetime. Injustice does make for super songs though.