Crime and Punishment.
The nature of crime is that it violates the laws of humanity and not
necessarily God’s law. Criminal law at its core should be
moral.[1]Fatherless homes create an increase crime, and additional
members of the same family confined in prison. It is not unusual to have a
father, son, uncle, and cousin all serving time in same prison
together.[2]Statistically speaking the majority offenders incarcerated in
our penal system are from urban areas. Laws and policies passed by the
Trump administration have decreased prison population by 14%.[3]The
changes to economic and criminal legislation contributed to a drop in
incarceration rates. The current levels are the lowest since 1995 when the
full effect of the 1994 Crime Bill drastically influenced both the penal
system and minority family structures.
The outsourcing of low skilled labor positions from our urban areas
contributes to the increase in poverty and crime.[4]Crime provides a
quick solution a long-term problem, which needs an economic solution as
well as a legislative one. The crime bill attempted to address the results of
bad democratic economic policies in these urban areas and created the
criminal problem. The Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act of
1970 (RICO) act was created to go after the organized crime such as the
mafia and cartels of Central and South America. The RICO act’s
application to low-level street drug dealers contributed to an increase in
fatherless homes, which created an even greater criminal
problem.[5]The abolishing of federal parole destroyed the ability of
people to return to society after serving some time in jail or prison and
allowing them to prove they could be a productive citizen. The two biggest
contributions to increase in crime are poverty and joblessness.[6]Minor
criminal offenses addressed by probation and community corrections
sentences are effective means of correction. People can correct their
behavior without being incarcerated.
Word Count: 428
[1]Robert McQuilkin, and Paul Copan.An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom. [Downers Grove, Il, IVP Academic], (2013).
p. 431
[2]Ranya Shannon. 3 Ways the 1994 Crime Bill Continues to Hurt
Communities of Color.Racial Equality and Justice.Center for American
Progress. (2019). Accessed June 24, 2021 from
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2019/05/10/469642/3
-ways-1994-crime-bill-continues-hurt-communities-color/
[3]Ann Carson.Black Victims of Violent Crime.[Washington, D.C.]: [U.S.
Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics].
(2020) accessed June 24, 2021 from
https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-2019
