g 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.
