Justice Or Revenge

You break the law, you get caught, you go to jail. For most this will include not receiving two-hundred dollars and not passing go. But life is rarely like a board game. Some who just fracture the law receive probation. Others end up sharing a cell and wondering just what effect this will have on their life. Is incarceration a fitting punishment or a way to damage those whom have damaged others?

Let me get the basics out of the way. Crime is bad. People get hurt. Offenders must pay a price. That price is often a jail sentence. How long that sentence is and what happens during it is what I have a problem with. We treat offenders equally with little regard as to their crime, their history or whether the greater good is served. We seem to deal with criminals from a place of anger rather than from a seed of hope.

We assume that if they do wrong once it will most likely happen again. It is easy to find statistics that bear this out. To what extent though is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? We demonize rather than attempt some form of rehabilitation. We take away the guilty party's every right, their every comfort, as part of their punishment. We act not from altruism but from fear. We believe it is better to hold criminals for as long as possible rather than try and keep them out of prison for just as long a time.

The long-term costs of imprisonment are greater than the short-term expense of various forms of rehabilitation. Time and money must be spent upon education and learning life skills. Counseling to help with mental trauma is good therapy for all. Assistance after prison to help the convict assimilate back into society can only offer positive outcomes. Treating the offender as a human being in all stages goes a long way in making someone want to act humanely.

What I propose is not appropriate for all classes of lawbreakers. Some should be kept as far away from society for as long as possible. Even in these cases though should we allow some level of comfort and humanity. They will be spending their remaining years locked up after all. We certainly do not want them to become greater problems after their incarceration than before. Giving these people something to do with their time should not be seen as a privilege.

Guards, prisons and law-breakers housed within are prices we pay for a just and balanced society. I do not approve of all methods of inmate treatment yet for the most egregious offenders I can understand how strict measures must be undertaken. The families and friends of victims have my sympathy and must be made whole as best we can. This should not include treating the criminal offender as less than human. How we treat the least of us says oh so much about the most of us.