Blog Author: Karen Johnson
Thoughts on the Judicial System
Written in 2005 by the mother of an incarcerated juvenile. I have been studying the judicial system for a while and decided to write down my thoughts on the matter.
First, let me say that I am a person who makes a difference in my family, community, and country. I come from a long line of revolutionists starting with John Milton in England. I am a person with a good head on my shoulders, and common sense is my middle name. I am a positive person who likes to look on the bright side of things, but I'm always looking for ways to make things better.
In my studies, I have noticed that the so called 'criminal justice system'" is not that at all, but is actually a 'criminal legal system', and as such, is only looking at the law. Now, law is good to have: it keeps us steady and on the straight and narrow. However, law without judgement is not good for it breeds injustice for all. When the laws are more important than a man's life then a line has been crossed. So many times I have heard, in talking to people across this great nation, that someone in their family or someone they know personally was touched by and impacted (not in a good way) by the 'criminal legal system'. I say, "How can this be? Is not the 'system' supposed to work for the people, and not the other way around?" Instead I hear story after story of people, good people, being thrown away by the 'system' because of one infraction. In many of these stories the punishment does not fit the crime, and in some cases innocent people are convicted of crimes. And, once in the system, their record follows them around for the rest of their lives, even though they have done their time and 'paid' for their crime. I thought that once you had served your time, you would be free to rejoin society and get on with your life, but not so.
In the case of my son, he did do something wrong, and he was incarcerated for it, but once he returned home something was dreadfully wrong. Now, I do not know what influenced him in the juvenile system, and for all intents and purposes 'they' were there to 'rehabilitate' the young people. But, I can say for certain that the person that my son was before was not the person that returned to us on that November day when he was released. He was unsure of himself, had low self-esteem, and thought 'bad' thoughts about himself. This escalated into 'bad' behavior and eventually a DWI that landed him back in the 'system'. Hey, that is just where they expect you to land. There is no expectation of success, although they spout those words. "Go and do good, and don't mess up". But behind those words is the feeling that they don't expect that to happen and so it rarely does. Once you are back in the 'system' they put you on 'probation' which is supposed to help you, but all it does, that I have ever seen, is drag you down until you submit and go out and do another crime.
My son tried to go to school after the DWI, but waiting in the lobby of the Probation Office for three to four hours became too much for him to take. His school told him that if he missed class three times his grade would fall by one letter. Now, he had to choose between being at the probation office, or being in class. He chose class and was faulted for it. He called probation and left a message with his probation office, but did not get a call back.
How do we fix this? By putting in more caring people? No, there are already caring people there, at least at first before their spirit is broken. No, the caring people need training and the freedom to do their jobs in a caring environment. Cynicism rears its head to say, "Oh yes, but the 'criminal' is conniving and sneaky and lies to us, so we treat them like a 'criminal'.
What if all they need is to be 'heard"'?
Karen Johnson
