So I have been thinking a lot recently...actually for the past 6 months or more, about how much our criminal justice system sucks. It's not like I just realized it then...I pretty much realized it after I interned in a prison for a summer...but its started to really hit home. During my undergrad, I was told 1,000 reasons why our justice system works the way it does. Some people say we punish to rehabilitate...ha. Some people see criminal sanctions as a deterrent...which is equally as as funny to me since you are more likely to commit another crime after you have been incarcerated. Some people see sanctions as retribution...which is what really gets me.
I was talking to a couple of my friends this morning and asked them if they believed in retribution and they both said they did...in some form or another. They said, just like everyone does, that people need to pay for their actions but my question is...why is incarceration the option we think is best fit? What purpose does that serve for ANYONE. If you send someone to jail, you are not doing anything to help any stakeholds in a criminal act. The victim receives nothing (except possibly a small monetary retribution fees), the community doesn't benefit..they are paying to incarcerate them and are losing a member of society who could be working and purchasing products. The offender clearly doesn't benefit, they receive putative sanctions, the loss of a large chunk of their life, criminal friends, disenfranchisement, and the label as a criminal for life(if its a felony at least). Additionally for many of them, they never receive the opportunity to have their story heard.
The example I had this morning was what if you lost a family member to a car accident that involved a drunk driver? What would you want to happen to them? I'm sure that most people would say they wanted them to rot in jail for what they did, but why do we think that? It doesn't make you a bad person if you do...it is all we know, but why is our moral imagination restricted to ideas like this to punish individuals for wrong doing? Lets say this individual is charged with second degree manslaughter and DWI (or whatever charges result..im not exactly sure). Most likely he is going to plea bargain out into something like..vehicular manslaughter and a DUI...still probably facing jail or prison time. The family may get an insurance claim, nothing compared to what they have lost. They will go to court, the case will be passed through in a few minutes, and both parties leave feeling like their story hasn't been heard and the justice system has failed to attend to their needs.
I think it is so sad how many stories end like this. What if the individual in the car was a senior in college who made one terrible terrible mistake. Prison isn't going to serve as a deterrent ..I'm sure have taking someones life they would have never driven drunk again. They don't need rehabilitated, it was one bad decision (plus rehabilitation takes away all accountability from the offender). Retribution? By going to prison, the victim and their family did benefit. Retribution for some reason is supposed to restore some moral order, one I have yet to see accomplished. By passing people through our criminal justice system like this, we fail to recognize any of the details of a crime and simultaneously don't benefit any of the above parties. Why can't we sit down and have a collaborative conversation about what the punishment should be and how we can REALLY restore moral order? A discussion where all stakeholder have their story heard (including members of the community) and decide on an APPROPRIATE punishment. Seems a little more logical than slapping a number on someone to me....
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