The ‘recession’ has affected almost all areas of the economy, both in the public and private sectors; amid massive job losses, increasing UI claims from laid-off workers, record numbers of companies filing for bankruptcy, corporate profits down, shrinking market share, the Consumer Confidence Index is at its lowest level in recent memory, and banks are refusing to make loans while raising interest rates on credit cardholders to offset financial losses.
In spite of all the gloomy pessimism, there is one bright spot, and this is in the field of Law Enforcement. It seems that vacancies cannot be filled fast enough and some agencies have even had to advertise for open positions in other states employment listings. This not only pertains to local police departments, but sheriff’s deputies and state patrol officers as well. And because of the constant threat from terrorism, there are positions in Homeland Security, Port Security, Border Patrol Agents, Immigration & Naturalization Agents, and of course, the Military.
But getting back to the main point, it seems that “crime does pay,” or rather provides a paycheck for those who seek employment in the various branches of the Criminal Justice System. While the need to protect the public from harmful acts is an almost instinctive one, and a sacred trust, it is ironic that in the midst of this economic downturn, teachers are being fired but more police officers [or Public Safety Officers; if you prefer] are being hired. Bullets seem to be more important than books and a badge & gun more valued than a High School Diploma or a College degree. Think about it for a moment: The average cost to incarcerate a prisoner is $30,000 or so annually; which could feed a family of four about twelve months. If you take and multiply that amount by the nearly 1.5 million people in jails and prisons, not including those in Juvenile Detention Centers, or in Mental State Hospitals for the Criminally Insane, this comes to a whopping 45 Billion dollars.
Since the rate of ‘recidivism’ is 90%, what’s the point of locking up all these offenders who sit around most of the time without being productive; unless you call using the prison library to become familiar with criminal law precedents so they can work on their appeals, and who sit around and enjoy “three hot’s and a cot” on the taxpayers dime? Now this criticism does not mean that all the floodgates of the prisons and jails should be swung wide open to let out all the murderers, sexual predators, psychopaths, schizophrenics, paranoid delusional, bi-polar, and mentally depraved individuals to wreck havoc on the innocent citizenry. However, it has been argued for decades that the modern penal system, which by the way, was first instituted in the Americas by those peace-loving, charitable, benevolent, and God-fearing Quakers, is now an abject failure.
What is sorely needed is a practical reform of the Criminal Justice/Penal System, the Criminal Courts, and the Legislatures in each State which draft the Criminal law codes to amend the existing laws where only the most heinous, unrepentant or unremorseful, malicious, and wickedly malevolent and deviant individuals are put away where they cannot ever harm another individual. Yet at the same time, there mustn’t be a compromise of the system’s integrity and fairness, to wit; the same justice which the wealthy can afford should also be made available to the poor, as well. It must be kept in mind that the C.J. System derives most of its revenue from the taxpayer and not from fines imposed by the Courts or through Bail/Bonds proceedings.
Since there are roughly about 5 million workers without jobs, this means a shrinking tax base and insufficient revenue to meet the budgets and services as well as projects at the local, county, city, state, and national level. Just like there is an ever-increasing cry for a mandate for the Courts to dismiss frivolous lawsuits, there should be just as much vigor or rigor in addressing the issue of exorbitant sentencing guidelines for seemingly minor or less egregious criminal conduct. This must be done in such a way as to satisfy the ‘ends of the law’ to punish significant criminal behavior while at the same time is humane and sensitive to the aggrieved party as well as to act prudently in the best interests of society as a whole; and early release (‘parole’) or pre-release just might not be the best alternative in all instances.
Perhaps the next time a criminal defendant appears before the bar of justice regarding offenses deemed non-lethal, habitual, premeditated, or depraved, and after all the arguments from both opposing counsel has been heard and evidence [‘Discovery’] is introduced to the Court, the presiding Judge can then look the perpetrator straight in the eyes and say, “I hereby sentence you to ‘LIFE;’ get out of my courtroom, get a job, live responsibly, and don’t appear before my face again because I’m not going to let you off that easy, next time.” Perhaps forgiveness is the best form of rehabilitation, not retribution or punishment.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 1, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
