c 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.
