Comments on: Cheap Justice

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:47:55 +0000

While I can agree with the author’s original argument for the need to change the way the prison system is structured and organized, I believe he is incredibly mistaken with the idea of using literature as a form of therapeutic rehabilitation. Study after study shows that a majority percentage of crimes committed are acts of circumstance; and further, these criminal acts are learned behavior. I do not believe that by giving an individual a good fiction novel will stop them from committing the deviant behavior they have previously shown. There is an argument in this article pertaining to the idea that we spend so much money on the prison system because society is emotional about crime. And subsequently this is portrayed as a bad thing. However, I believe that in order for society to maintain subsequent behavioral standards crime cannot be something taken lightly.
Understand that I am not attempting to invalidate the power a novel has, but we must consider what the author of this article is saying. Can any of us really say with confidence that The Old Man and the Sea would have stopped Timothy McVeigh, or War and Peace would have slowed down Ted Bundy? I think not. I understand I have given examples of extreme individuals but my point is universal to all criminals and criminal acts. Crime will forever remain a choice given from calculated decision based on circumstance. I commend Hickok for attempting a radical approach to an orthodox system that is failing miserably, but I guess I don’t have either the faith in literature or in humanity that he shows.

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:21:48 +0000

I have never heard of the Pew Center for the States until now and I definitely agree that President Obama should be adopting this recommendation. The fact that our corrections systems are our second largest expense after Medicaid surprises me even more. The Pew Center’s recommendation is that the nation uses the fiscal crisis to make structural changes and I strongly agree with this. Spending over $68 billion on the corrections system is something that I believe the Pew Center can change. I am also new to Changing Lives through Literature and I have never heard of such an inexpensive program of only $500 per person being able to improve the quality of people’s lives. After reading the information on how CLTL affects its graduates the results are amazing. Even though there is a possibility of graduates committing another crime, the fact that the crime is likely to be less serious makes me believe that this program needs to be spread throughout the nation. Although one of the program’s flaws is illiteracy among some members I believe that if those members who are illiterate are more expensive, the extra cost to pay for them to learn how to read would not even come close to the amount of money it is for them to be kept in prison. Not only does this program save millions of dollars but it also saves the quality of many lives in the United States. If President Obama adopts this program I believe that it will be one of the best decisions that Obama could ever make.

By: Logan

Logan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:31:53 +0000

I have to agree with the point of this essay that we need to do something to change the way the prison system is ran. Along with the program, Changing Lives through Literature, that is outlined in this essay we also need to focus on why individuals are committing these crimes in the first place not just on how to correct the individuals who have committed crimes that have caused them to become a part of the criminal justice system. Once we find out why offenders commit the crimes they do it becomes important that we implement programs that focus no longer on the criminal offender but instead on the citizen who may become a victim of these root causes.

Another thing that should be tackled by the current administration is that they need to take a good hard look at the private prison industry and realize that it is not living up to the reason why it was originally created and that is to make the prison industry a more effective and cheaper institution. Instead the private prison industry is cutting costs in areas that make it a less effective than a state run institution and also through the business practices employed by these companies they are costing the taxpayers millions of dollars more than we should be paying.

Overall, I agree with what the author has to say in this essay but I am not completely sure I buy into the idea of age being a significant mechanism. I believe that the reason why the legislatures are creating harsher punishments is not to single out the youth but instead they are following the school of thought that humans are rational thinking individuals and that we naturally want to do what is most pleasurable. Their hope with creating these harsher crimes is that we will realize that the pain of punishment will outweigh any pleasure we get from committing the crime.

By: Carl S.

Carl S. — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:19:23 +0000

Maeve, your appeal goes to the heart of the matter and beyond just the criminal justice system: too many institutions are run by emotion and historical precedent. We can only hope, and act on that hope, that well intentioned folk and “well-supervised community-based interventions” will persist and, one day, prevail. Some of us back in the 60s thought we could right the world. Many of us were idealistic students. Then we graduated, got jobs, had families, and became entangled in “the system.” Never completely losing our ideals, we had to either pursue these ideals more cautiously, or delay them, or, as some did, give them up altogether. There seems to be a resurgence today for change in so many arenas as evidenced by CLTL, your work, and a host of environmental and other groups. But change is slow. One day though, we hope, all these positive forces will coelesce, and the changes we work for will reshape this land and people’s lives. This is not a crazy thought. I teach at a historically black college. Not one of my students thinks he or she can’t control his or her life. This is a far cry from what their parents thought. We just gotta keep on keepin’ on.

By: David Sarles

David Sarles — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:41:17 +0000

By Maeve’s mathematics, the betting line on CLTL is 2 – 1. The odds on prison are approximately 60 – 1 I’ll place my bet on CLTL.

By: Bec

Bec — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:41:38 +0000

I am ever so grateful that “anonymous” is presumably not in charge of the criminal justice system.
A long time ago I read a children’s story about a prince who kept hearing complaints about the king’s refusal to solve problems. The prince took matters into his own hands and started “solving” problems. Every time he solved a problem, the solution created a host of new problems. Having said that I agree that the criminal justice system needs a serious overhaul and while we are at it we ought to look at crime prevention as the ultimate way to improve the lives of potential offenders.
Why is everything so complicated?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:33:33 +0000

Changing the system through tough and other well-supervised executions, and reasoned, exportation of illegal aliens before sentencing will free up billions in this cash-strapped economy. This bailout would be something President Barack Obama could never get behind, don’t you think?

By: bob

bob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:49:24 +0000

Maeve: Thanks for this eloquently written essay. I am, of course, in agreement! Now we need to get Obama’s attention. I’d like to see this essay on every op-ed page in the country. I hope you’ll help with that, too. Keep the vision.