07-14-2021, 12:28 PM
(07-12-2021, 12:32 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So here's the issue. The problem with our criminal justice system is that it is not just the criminal justice system causing the problems. The social death enacted against criminals in this country, which results in difficulties getting a job, finding housing, and just general difficulty participating in society as someone that has served their time creates a perpetual cycle in which criminals continue to commit crimes because they see no other way to live. When that is combined with the systemic racism in the country that has created gross inequities as well as the perceived heavy-handedness of the system in general, it has caused many people to see the solution as being to lighten up on criminals. This is completely idiotic and ignores all of the actual issues that are at play creating the environment for criminal activity.
This is all, of course, a bit tangential to the systems put in place that attempt to streamline the criminal justice process that result in some of the issues we see in the first post. These policies are, and always have been, flawed. They stem from judicial systems being overburdened and underfunded, resulting in efforts to push cases through as efficiently as possible. That's how things like that often slip by in places where prosecutorial discretion isn't as loosey-goosey as what SSF is talking about.
Anyway, I don't have the solutions. I have just done some reading on the issues
Yes, the "art" of the plea bargain certainly produces some uneven outcomes. I have no doubt that some innocent people took deals to avoid a possibly worse outcome and to just get the process over with. However, I don't think that number is substantial.
I completely agree with your assessment of the post incarceration criminal experience. But, I also understand why businesses are reluctant to hire ex-cons as well. As you say, there is no easy solution.
