f This week’s post and discussion topic is very familiar to me. My dad has been in
law enforcement almost my entire life. I have gotten to see first- hand and meditate
over how effective and legitimate our current penal system is in the USA. I have
come to agree with the author’s conclusion that “Surely a society with creativity
sufficient to put a person on the moon need not to settle for a failed system of
punishment here on earth.” I do believe that there is room for some justice reform
with the current system. However, I don’t feel like we need to fully start over from
scratch and just throw everything out. In relation to the post, specifically with the
continue failed “War on Drugs” in the United States, I have had many conversations
with people about how simply decriminalizing drugs will not fix the issue. I am aware
that multiple issues do plague our system (overcrowded prisons, drug crimes, racial
oppression, etc. In my opinion, I believe a potential change to punishments for
crimes would be the most impactful option. The author goes into detail about
multiple potential options for dealing with minor, non-violent crimes without jail time,
focuses mainly on first-time offenders. Of the options listed, there is one that stuck
out to me the most. Community service would be a great alternative for minor first-
time drug offenses. It would be ideal if they could even serve those hours in the
community and areas that they messed up in. It is my belief that it would open their
eyes to the damage they caused and possible road their life could be heading down
towards. Another good option that I believe would help is focusing more on
addiction/mental health treatment instead of jail time. A lot of first time or minor
drug crime offenders need help. However, if the system is so focused on just
throwing them in prison then who is helping them improve and work through what
they need too? There are states that are beginning to do this and all of the statistics
are positive so far. One of the states is California. Since 2000 when this became a
healthy alternative around 85% of first-time offenders do not commit another drug
crime after going through therapy and addiction recovery. There are also amazing
statistics on organizations helping those people get jobs that help improve their
quality of life.
McQuilkin, Robert, Copan, Paul. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics. IVP Academic.
2013.
