We have all experienced pain and felt hurt in our lives.
Sometimes there's someone we can blame for that pain, someone may have even meant to cause us harm. How do we deal with those people?
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Imprisonment.
Lately I have been thinking about who deserves to be put in prison, and for what. At first pass, I thought: "Well, certainly it would be best to imprison those who are a danger to society."
Are the people who I feel have harmed or wronged me "dangers to society"? I'm not sure, really, and I'm so close to the impact I can't even tell if I'm able to objectively define what that means.
The more I considered this concept, the more that putting anyone in prison who is determined to be "a danger to society" seemed very slippery. Because who makes that determination? I don't know that I could trust a "justice system" to decide if I am a danger to their society or not. What if a government were to decide that because I don't conform to some societal norms, I am endangering their precious society?
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No, I don't like that idea at all... Then anyone could be locked up for anything the government decided wasn't cool! ...maybe this is already happening in some ways... Hmmm, maybe the whole idea of putting people in prison is actually just not helpful! But what are the alternatives? Community accountability, mediation, shunning? What about when even that doesn't bring peace and disipate dangers?
Danger v. Harm
Someone can cause harm even if there isn't perceived danger. Have you ever been elbowed in the nose? Or been in a car accident? We don't usually expect this, we don't usually perceive a high level of danger in standing close to someone, or even driving a car. We couldn't reasonably lock someone up because they have elbows or just because they drive. It's only after the act that the person at fault could be punished. Maybe they wouldn't be imprisoned for elbowing you, but you might have a sore nose and choose not to stand by them again.
Basically: accidents happen. How do we create a safe and just culture?
Prevention v. Punishment
What kind of dangers could be preventable by imprisonment?
Physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, intellectual...? But wait, how? Physical, emotional, sexual, etc... these dangers and harms can (and do) still happen inside the prison system...
Well, the logic of this may be that if someone is going to intentionally put anyone in harm's way or do harm to someone, then a society is better off with that someone in prison (where they might or might not still cause harm within that system).
So imprisonment might separate out these "dangers" from "society", but would really just push the problem aside.
And how do we know that someone is dangerous to us in any of these ways and so should be imprisoned? Can we trust someone's stated intentions or previous actions if their freedom is on the line?
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But are punitive measures needed in order to deter people from doing some things? Even if a guilty person has "learned their lesson" or "changed their ways" or even if "it was an accident".... if some people got off without jail time because they swore they wouldn't ever do it again then it could incentivize people to lie, express remorse or no intention to harm just order to get off the hook...
And then we'd end up really screwed as a society (I do like to believe that we're not already) because the people willing to lie would be free and the honest ones would be sentenced. I don't want to live in that world. But I also don't like the idea of imprisoning someone, anyone... almost as much as I feel safer knowing that some people who want to cause harm don't have the means to do so because they are behind bars. Ahhhh, what a paradox!
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Instead of imprisonment, what could justice look like?
I dream of a world where we don't need prisons and prisons don't exist. Where people are able to be free and where the society they are surrounded with encourages them to be peaceful. Right now it's still a dream, while unfortunate realities still exist. But I do have hope for the future. Even though it can feel depressing, I try to be an example of a grounded human creating peace wherever I go. And although I'm not perfect, it feels better to me to be kind than to be cruel. I pray for that blessing for everyone.
"When justice is founded on a concrete set of moral principles,
it is a guiding light for resolving conflicts."
~ Adam Kokesh @adamkokesh in Freedom!
Thank you for reading!
I am genuinely interested to hear your thoughts or feelings on this subject if you are willing to share.
it is a guiding light for resolving conflicts."
~ Adam Kokesh @adamkokesh in Freedom!
Thank you for reading!
I am genuinely interested to hear your thoughts or feelings on this subject if you are willing to share.