27 ms·

There are many people serving extremely long sentences due to things like 3 strike laws and mandatory minimums. Unfortunately it comes down to perverse incentiv

by helmsb 4y ago

There are many people serving extremely long sentences due to things like 3 strike laws and mandatory minimums. Unfortunately it comes down to perverse incentives. It’s a lot easier to get elected by being “tough on crime” rather than practicing empathy and developing systems to provide the tools and skills necessary to help people become productive members of society. Once a person enters the cycle it’s very difficult to exit it. You grow up in a bad situation, get busted for a crime, serve time and exit, lacking the skills to be successful. You’re labeled as a criminal and surrounded by trip wires ready to send you back. Society then uses the fact that you got sent back as proof of why we need tougher sentencing, lobbied on by private prisons who make more money the more people who are locked up. The average person doesn’t stand a chance against that. I used to believe in harsh sentencing and that people got what they deserved because they violated the law but the more I really learned about the justice system the more I realized it’s not only harming those caught up in it but helping to push society in a direction of even less empathy and human compassion. I’m not saying we should do away with criminal punishment but I think we should reconsider whether the system and the incentives surrounding the status quo are how we want to treat members of our society and whether this is the legacy we want to leave.

willnonya 4y ago
Setting harsh minimums and removing judicial discretion serves no-one. If anything the laws should set the maximum sentences that a judge can impose and allow the judge to determine which punishment fits the crime.
- ifelsethenyeah 4y ago
  America has the highest incarceration rate in the world except Seychelles. Furthermore, the US is generally unconcerned with rehabilitation, prisoner welfare, and is most concerned with locking up as many people as possible in for-profit prisons and throwing away the key. There is no consideration of "Hey, this person in prison should be genuinely rehabilitated because they may become my neighbor after they're released." America doesn't care about people who enter the criminal justice system, homelessness, mental healthcare, universal healthcare, or livable wages. In reality, Americans, imprisoned or not, who aren't rich (95% or so) don't know how bad they have it compared to the rest of the world.

by helmsb 4y ago

willnonya 4y ago

Setting harsh minimums and removing judicial discretion serves no-one. If anything the laws should set the maximum sentences that a judge can impose and allow the judge to determine which punishment fits the crime.

ifelsethenyeah 4y ago
America has the highest incarceration rate in the world except Seychelles. Furthermore, the US is generally unconcerned with rehabilitation, prisoner welfare, and is most concerned with locking up as many people as possible in for-profit prisons and throwing away the key. There is no consideration of "Hey, this person in prison should be genuinely rehabilitated because they may become my neighbor after they're released." America doesn't care about people who enter the criminal justice system, homelessness, mental healthcare, universal healthcare, or livable wages. In reality, Americans, imprisoned or not, who aren't rich (95% or so) don't know how bad they have it compared to the rest of the world.