Justice

Lots of thoughts going on. I'm not sure what kind of fundamental principles universally apply in life, if any. My personal values and ethics are informed by my Christianity. To me, the Bible, especially Matthew in the New Testament, is meaningful, true and works no matter one's particular religious beliefs. The idea that, as clearly stated in the Lord's Prayer, God is in Heaven, he wants the Heavenly system to be present on earth for all of us to benefit from.

Mike and I were talking about justice this morning. The son of a mutual acquaintance killed a woman while driving drunk. It was his second accident while driving drunk. Clearly, society has a responsibility to protect itself from such behavior. Deterrence is a viable means of protection. In this case, the driver is facing a potential 25 year prison sentence. From the societal perspective, this accomplishes 2 things. It provides a deterrent to others who may become aware of the consequences of such behavior. It also, and directly addresses this person's behavior, gets him off the streets and isolates him so he will not, for 25 years, be able to repeat his offense.

So far, so good. Now, my question about justice. Is there justice? How is justice, repentance, love and material utility served by such a sentence? For 25 years, taxpayers will need to pay for this person's support. Society will not benefit from any potential contribution he may make to GNP or other similar measures. Presumably, he will not be able to have a family and thus there will be no gain from potential progeny of this person.

What about prison, itself. What does the institution do to a person? Is there any measurable benefit to any, let alone an otherwise decent citizen, from spending 25 years in there? Is there potential to make this person an even worse citizen when they ultimately get out? Is the mass incarceration of people with little regard to the type of offense committed a sensible approach.

If one takes the approach that prison's primary mission is to isolate people who commit anti-social acts like drunk driving the same as those who premeditate crimes like murder, robbery and similar crimes then the sentence and the mixing of behavioral criminals is consistent. If one believes in redemption and the possibility of repentance, then maybe we could design a better prison. How much are we willing to invest in this humanitarian endeavor, given that we are unwilling to invest in education for non criminal children?

Killing someone due to willful disregard for the safety or welfare of others is a selfish act which is not to be taken lightly. I wonder if locking someone up for 25 years in a dependent unproductive role is the best society can do to ameliorate and rectify the offense. Our laws are in flux on this topic, with the trend moving toward more severe consequences. The emotional reaction is perfectly understandable. He killed a 25 year old woman who was a missionary and a servant to society. It was avoidable and senseless. Maybe locking him up for 25 years is the best we can do.

God seems like the ultimate libertarian. We have free will. He teaches us about consequences, but does not intervene to control our decisions, daily. If I take the Bible in its whole, there are all kinds of teachings in there that could involve almost any kind of punishment or correction imaginable. God is expecting more from us than a prescriptive relationship. We are called upon to do justice and love God. These are deeply held values of mine. I am certain that the law is not the best we can do, I am not sure what will be better. It will, as inefficient as it is, just have to do until our thinkers can come up with something better. The answer is most certainly outside the prison system and probably outside the justice system. With our lawmakers being controlled more by special interests than voters, I wonder where the consensus will come from.