A "Get Out of Jail Free Card" Will Not Work
Most of America's prison reform advocates only approach the issues from the standpoint of the prisoner-as-victim. Law enforcement policies under the prevailing liberal view are characterized as the main cause and perpetrator of mass incarceration. We rarely hear these folks tell us what punishment the guilty should have or how criminals should accept the consequences of their crimes. Many times they propose drug treatment, Drug Court, therapy, commitment to mental institutions, rehabilitation, "alternative sentences," and the extremely general solutions of fairness, equality, education and "community corrections." Most critics of mass incarceration focus on the process, not the substance of the problems.
The process is flawed, they say, because of the failed War on Drugs, inadequate indigent defense, excessive prosecutorial power, mandatory sentences, excessive sentences, three-strikes legislation, discriminatory law enforcement at various stages, overcrowding, the power of money, the way prison systems are operated, for-profit prison ownership and management, disparities in sentencing for similar crimes, prison guard unions, politics, the media, and the stigma attaching to convicted felons after release from prison.
The real problems, of course, are that offenders knowingly commit crimes, deserve punishment and must be punished. Society must to the best of its ability see to it that future crimes are deterred, society achieves retribution, criminals are incapacitated from crimes against law-abiding citizens while in prison, victims are compensated, and that hopefully some of the criminals are rehabilitated. What we need are solutions that help us reach those goals.
The punishment of criminals has never been, is not now, and never will be 100% fair, efficient, effective, just, accurate or equal. We are supposed to do the best we can in all these dimensions, but humans are imperfect, especially criminals. To the extent we are not doing our best, the system is subject to criticism. It's easy to criticize, especially when our criminal justice and prison systems are as out of balance as they are now. More difficult is replacing the flaws with practical, constitutional, efficient, fairer and better solutions that will be accepted by the majority of Americans and their representatives.
Liberals who have never been to jail or prison abhor the thought of judicial corporal punishment. They don't want to discuss it. But the constituents of these bleeding heart liberals, the convicted criminals themselves, would rather "take their licks" than serve a year or two in prison. Taxpayers would like the high cost of incarceration to drop. Families, communities, spouses, employers and friends would like to keep non-violent offenders at home and encourage their rehabilitation outside prison. It's time for those who presume to speak for the masses being massively incarcerated to realize that instead of achieving a solution, they may be delaying one. The Get-Out-of-Jail Free Card only works in Monopoly.