A theory of justice

Too often punishment for crimes is implemented by punitive justice. Some societies try to abide by “an eye for an eye.” Obviously that doesn’t make a lot of sense in the real world. If someone kills an entire family – as happened earlier this year here – then do we take justice by killing the murderer’s family. I don’t think any reasonable person would suggest such a solution.

But the problem with punitive justice is that it can be harmful in itself. Someone who gets a long prison term due to minimum sentencing laws will undoubtedly come out of prison a much harder person. There was a case here over the past couple of years of a person who had gone to prison for a number of years on a murder charge. Later DNA evidence found that the person in prison had not committed that particular crime. A couple of years after his exoneration and release from prison, he committed a crime very similar to the one he had been accused of initially. His freedom was short lived, and I think the effect of prison on that particular person was probably harmful.

Prison serves a function, but it shouldn’t be harmful for the people who are incarcerated.

Justice should be a conversation. Instead of asking ourselves, how can we punish this person, we should be asking, how can we help this person to not cause harm again? That involves looking at the circumstances that led to that person causing harm in the first place. That may involve therapy to talk through their problems. That may involve medications if they have an emotional disturbance.

But through the dialog, we can find a way to help and hopefully not harm. The focus should be on rehabilitation instead of punishment. Some people – through upbringing, genetics, or choice – will spend most of their lives inside of a prison. But for those who are sitting in prison – they could be getting education and treatment, but instead they are simply warehoused. Warehousing isn’t good for livestock, and it’s certainly not good for human beings.