The Federal government Witness Protection program began in 1971, to which the purpose of the creation of this program was basically to protect certain criminals from being harmed or being threatened, in order for these protected criminals to feel safe in testifying against other criminals that they were previously intimately involved with so that by so doing this in a court of law their testimony would often convict these other lawbreakers. The basic premise of the program is it often takes a criminal on the inside to take down other criminals because that is the only certain way that the prosecutorial arm of the government can obtain both the necessary evidence to convict but also have a prosecutorial witness that is considered to be both reliable and of pertinence to the crimes at hand. Of course, another way of looking at it is that the government as a matter of course, rewards snitches and turncoats by providing them new identification papers and often a free pass to enjoy life, without suffering the consequences or penalty for what their former criminal actions would necessitate. This means that the law most definitely treats criminals unequally with some criminals being able to get away with murder, in return for their valued assistance in taking down other criminals that have done the very same thing.
It is one thing to provide witness protection to the innocent bystander and/or the whistle blower, a person that has not done anything wrong, but wishes to see criminal actions punished for what they are, and it is entirely a different thing to take people that have knowingly committed heinous crimes and let them go not just scot-free but with new identification papers that allows them to become part of a community to which none of the other residents have an inkling or a clue that the person that lives next door to them is, in fact, a bona-fide dangerous criminal, himself.
As bad as that is, it gets even worse, when you consider that there are many thousands of Americans, good people all, that wish for a reset button in their life, a chance to start their credit history over, a chance to live in a new community with a fresh start, and a chance to let go of the past which has been a hindrance to them and to begin life anew. Unfortunately, this opportunity is simply not available, because unlike the criminals that get fresh starts for turning against their former cohorts, these Americans are not part and parcel of criminal enterprises.
There is too yet another problem with the entire Witness Protection program and that is if the government has the power to give certain designated people all the identification as well as other necessary documents and further the wherewithal to make a living in a new community, who is to say, that this same power can't be used over and over again, for any individual that the government wishes to favor in such a manner. The government, as always, often starts a program with good intentions, but too often programs morph into something completely different. The Witness Protection program gives off the very distinct scent of corruption and gives away way too much for those that have sacrificed way too little.