Before I started taxi driving, I had limited exposure to the struggles of the underclass. I grew up at the upper end of "middle class", where my parents both wo

Before I started taxi driving, I had limited exposure to the struggles of the underclass. I grew up at the upper end of "middle class", where my parents both worked for a living and made enough to save for retirement and go on vacations. One of the things I came to appreciate was the harm done in the name of "justice". I blogged about some of my experiences (most were originally posted at kuro5hin.org [RIP]). America's Make-Work Sheriff: The Anachronism of Joseph Arpaio [1] examines the United States' criminal justice system as a "make-harm program", which is a jobs program where the government puts people to work making work for themselves. [1] http://www.taxiwars.org/2017/09/americas-make-work-sheriff-anachronism.html http://www.taxiwars.org/2017/09/americas-make-work-sheriff-a... This submission mentions Gideon v. Wainwright, which is a rather important Supreme Court case that found the accused have a right to counsel for all criminal prosecutions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_v._Wainwright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon_v._Wainwright After Gideon got the Supreme Court to find that he had the right to an attorney, he was re-prosecuted and acquitted. IMHO, the next phase in the evolution of the United States' criminal justice system is moving away from "punishments" (revenge) towards helping the convicted with their actual problems. Something like how Germany treats the people they've convicted: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-is-prison-60-minutes-goes-to-germany/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-is-prison-60-minutes-goes-... (edit: shifted order of paragraphs)