> But I don't think Americans are punitive. I don't think this is a remotely justifiable belief. We have the highest prisoner rate per capita, we sanction anyo

> But I don't think Americans are punitive. I don't think this is a remotely justifiable belief. We have the highest prisoner rate per capita, we sanction anyone the second they step out of line, and the entire two prior decades have been shaped by a collective trauma that pushed us into seeking retributive justice against anyone--regardless of their actual role. I fail to remember which Puerto Rican uprising this was during, but there was a mother who was jailed for the crime of making her husband and children breakfast. When slavery was finally ended, the 10 years of reconstruction was met immediately with horrific acts of terrorism and reactionary violence to reassert white supremacy. Punitive Justice is a core tenet of the American civil religion.