Most people have no idea what happens in our criminal justice system. Now, as the title of this article suggests, I have a single summer's worth of experience, which hardly makes me an expert, but it has given me enough to form an opinion and an unfavorable one at that. No surprise though.
I want to start with a relatively simple inquiry: what is the purpose of our criminal justice system? I think many of us envision the purpose to be punishment, at least to some degree. Others may see reintegration as the primary purpose of the system. In the current state (at least in MN), I feel that we are halfway between these two scenarios. At one end we may provide work release, education, and drug treatment for convicts, but on the other we imprison them for 5 years, severing them from their jobs, family, and friends.
Now, I lack concrete evidence to back this up, but frankly I find hundreds of years of rising incarceration rates to be all the evidence I need. Treating the criminal justice system as a punishment mechanism is moronic and here's why:
First, in our current system, sending people to prison is expensive. People may not like the fact that convicts are clothed, fed, housed, and given medical services (actually that sounds better than what some Americans have outside of prison... kidding), but providing all of that is mandated in the Constitution (cruel and unusual punishment anyone?). We're not going to stop doing those things, so an increasing amount of prisoners will create an increasing cost to society to provide for the basic needs of those people.
Second (and more importantly), punishment is a manner of isolation. Not just isolation for the purpose of making the public safe (I have no problem with isolation from society under the right circumstances), but isolation of the prisoner from everything that gives their life meaning. This past summer, I found that many defendants were people who had made really stupid decisions, but were hardly criminal masterminds. Yet, some would certainly find themselves going to prison for a year or longer. Every time, I had to ask myself, "what do we expect these people to do once they get out?"
People are motivated to be law abiding when they are invested in something, rather than by a fear of punishment. Again, no hard evidence, but think of the incarceration rate of those in poverty versus the upper classes. A person with a lot to lose is less likely to risk their investments than those with nothing to lose. A very simple risk/reward situation. If I have a house and family, I am less inclined to risk that. Where if you live paycheck to paycheck, scraping by, well... you get the picture.
Yet, imagine how we set up those who are sent to prison. If we send an 18 year old male away for ten years, what do we expect him to do once he is released? His chances of employment are low. It's unlikely that he has many friends/connections after a decade. At best, he has some family waiting for him, but there's no guarantee of that either.
So, if my premise is correct, we put a person away for ten years for a crime he committed in large part due to the fact that he had nothing to lose and release him with even less than he had prior to entering the system. Should we be surprised if he reoffends? No. Should we be surprised that he can't acquire the very things that would make him less inclined to reoffend? No.
Treating the criminal justice system as a means of punishment isolates people and encourages further offenses. Worse yet, treating the system as a means of punishment hurts society through cost and further crime.
I don't have all the answers for the system, but I think we as a society should be considering this issue carefully. Many of us are complacent about this, as we see defendants and convicts as nothing more than criminals. Not people, but unruly animals that deserve our disdain and disrespect. All the while, forgetting that these are people, and we are also a mere stupid decision away from being in their position. I'm not an expert, but one summer has been a illumination of the dark corner of society inhabited by the criminal justice system.
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