Scarlet Letter Justice

Around the U.S., a troublesome situation is soon coming to a head. I’m speaking, of course, of our failed justice and sentencing system.

There is the premise that once someone has served their time, paid their "debt to society," that they should be able to move on with their lives as ordinary citizens. Increasingly, that is under attack.

Two classes of individuals especially are singled out: sexual offenders (especially pedophiles), and DWI convicts. Don’t get me wrong…there’s no love lost here for any potential recidivist. I’d just as soon be safe than sorry…but not at the cost of our national soul. When it comes to sexual offenders, I’m just as NIMBY as anyone else. Still, when I see someone who has served their sentence, as proscribed by law, being hounded and threatened like a leper of old…well, it just makes me sick. If they aren’t wanted back in our communities after however long they’ve served, then apparently the sentence was inappropriately short. But is it worth a life sentence? Some would say so, but if not…then when does the sentence end? (The suggestion of forming special segregated communities is just so utterly offensive from even a surface examination that it doesn’t need further consideration.)

And how about the DWI folks? Communities want to do something that is also brought out for the sex offenders as well: publishing lists (with photos) in local papers, bulletin boards, the Internet, etc. Uh guys…? Fellow citizens…? Get a grip.

Of course, the heart of all of this comes from our broken system to deal with convicted felons. In the broad scope of sentencing, the crime no longer seems to be a determinant on punishment. We’ve pleaded and paroled our way into a penal joke. Combine this with the hell-holes most of our jails and prisons have become, then what we have is a mockery of justice.

I’m just venting at the moment because I’ve seen more stories of convict "outing" on the local news. In the future, I’ll be examining a little more sensibly the institutions and practices of our punishment system and see if maybe there are some things that might actually work.