Prisons: Consequences or Rehabilitation

In the United States when an illegal action takes place, and a trial of peers deems the accused guilty the guilty party faces a range of consequences. These punishments become the power behind the law. In legal disputes there are three parties; the victim or victims of a crime, the judges, juries, and executive branch upholding and enforcing the law, and the guilty party. Each party has their own view and thoughts on what the consequences for breaking the law should be. The victim deserves justice for the wrongdoing done upon them and having the criminal face prison, or another charge becomes their justice. The judges are looking to uphold the law and keep order within the state. The guilty party faces the punishment and must bear the cost their past action or actions have been deemed to be worth. So what is a sentence? Is a sentence justice for the victim? Are sentences like being sent to prison there just as a way to give laws power? Or is it a punishment meant to teach the guilty not to repeat their actions?

If one kid comes up and hits another kid, hurting them, an adult who sees this first checks on the injured child to make sure they are okay. Immediately after the ordeal occurs the injured kid is the most important person in everyone's eyes. When checking on the kid, they will give them attention, and get them first aid if needed or call their parent, so they have a safe person to be around. After this initial check, the adult then finds the perpetrator of the fight and punishes that child for their actions. Maybe parents come in and talk about the incident, or administrators get involved, but the attention after the initial event is on the child who hit the other kid. The victim is the most important person in a crime. They are the ones who did not ask to be harmed yet still were and now have to live with the consequences of another person's choice. The kid who was attacked could have broken their arm, or the child might live with a fear of going to school and have to face that fear every day. Yet, after the initial check on the injured child, almost all of the attention goes on finding a punishment for the attacker, while no punishment actually helps the victim's situation.

This childhood drama translates to the criminal justice system. In a rape case, the victim first goes through the worst day of their life, and then, if they go to the police, they are thrust into proving their attacker attacked them. The victims choice to come out protects the community by stopping the perpetrator from attacking anyone else, just as the parents tried to stop the bully. But the choice is also brave and selfless of the victim as the victim must face possible prejudices from those close to the accused and must relive the terrible night as they must prove something happened, often with little ability to get the evidence needed to help them. In the end, if the attacker is deemed guilty they are sent to prison, and the victim has protected their community from further pain, but did anyone protect the person who was given a blanket as they espoused their terrifying tale that first night. People look to punish, it is portrayed as a way to provide justice for the hurt party, but the hurt party needs love, care, attention, not just revenge for a mean or terrible action done upon them.

The government needs a way to enforce the law. If there were no consequences for a person's actions, then everyone could do whatever they wanted with no fear of the ethics of their choice. Consequences like prison time allow for laws to have real power. These repercussions are needed for a society with any rules but just enforcing statutes does not make a society ethical. To create an equal society, laws must bear equal weight for all parties. During the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, one person went to jail, a man named Serageldin. Serageldin's sentencing was despite the judge stating Seragelding was "a small piece of an overall evil climate within the bank and with many other banks" (NYT). Large banks like Merrill Lynch stated losses much lower than they were, first claiming 4.5 billion, before a few weeks later declaring it was 8 billion despite them having already known that by the time of the first statement (NYT). These lies cost people their lives and homes, and yet, a single person was blamed for it all. One managing director for one bank Credit Suisse was all that the law and those backing it punished. To Mr. Seragelding, this situation shows him how his choice to cover up losses was wrong and pushes him not to do it again, but for the majority of banks and bankers, this situation highlights a legal system which will not punish them reinforcing their sketchy way of life. Laws must be enforced equally, not just on the few who take the blame for the all, or else they lose their power in the eyes of the majority.

As a prison inmate reaches their cell, a new world awaits them. A society that is strictly structured and limits their freedom. They face this world because the criminal was judged by their peers to have done something illegal. Prison is a consequence and rightly so, but with any harmful action, the eyes must first go to the victims. If prison is only a punishment, then the guilty party will face a situation that just makes them angry and mad. This increasing hate will cause them to want to lash out and attack the society or people who put them into prison. When released from jail, these people may act out again performing more immoral actions and possibly hurting others. Prison needs to be more than a punishment because teaching and helping people who make a bad or even awful decision helps all of humanity.

When someone makes a mistake or does something horrendous nothing can change what has already occurred. To make up for whatever they have done a person can only try and be better in the future. Prison time shows an offender what they did is not acceptable, but they should be structured in a way that allows a prisoner a chance to try and make amends in their life for their action and help out others and possibly other victims of crimes. Some programs like the Education Status, which allows prisoners without a high school diploma to work for a GED, provide this essential support, but there still is a gaping hole in rehabilitating the locked up (bopgov 201). Prisons become ill-maintained and as states lack the funding to keep all their prisoners in government institutions contracts are given to private for-profit prisons which get money based on the number of prisoners they have in them (theconversation). A for-profit prison which gains money by keeping inmates has no incentive to help those within it become better because by keeping prisoners those who own the prison make more money. Those deemed guilty should face punishment for their crimes, but they should not be forgotten because if they are then the guilty people will only become madder and have fewer options leading them to repeat their past unethical actions.

http://theconversation.com/private-prisons-explained-73038

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/magazine/only-one-top-banker-jail-financial-crisis.html

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_age.jsp

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/docs/program_fact_sheet_20180930.pdf