It's Too Long And There Are No Adorable Kittens (Or, Why Meaningful Thought Trumps Popular Appeal)

Those who favor descriptive authors and rich story lines presume that everyone loves words; if a few are good, then more are better.   Though addicted to words, I am trying to cut down.

Massachusetts is a great leader in progressive and even radical thought.  But, we fell behind the nation in draconian punishment and are just now considering “Three Strikes” legislation when so many others who led the charge find themselves rescinding their punitive laws as too costly and ineffective .  Odd that we are so late to the penalty game,  given our colorful past of stoning witches and hanging Quakers.  But, better late than never, so despite overcrowded prisons and full courtroom dockets, the Cradle of Liberty has become determined to deny the possibility of parole to our “most dangerous felons”. 

As the Legislature sees it, due to the magic of the number 3, we can lock up all of the very, very bad people and then only good guys like bankers will be out on the streets.  

Two fantastic books published by law professors, one coming from the political right and the other from the political left shed brilliant light on the subject.   WARNING: both books have more than 750 words and there are no adorable kittens.  Still, worth the read.

Few people laud criminal activity, including inmates in prison.  Most rue their transgressions and seek to improve themselves and their lives.  Of course, we do not give them the prayer of a chance.  We deny felons the right to vote, to live in public housing, to work, to care for their children: we lock them up outside.  We demand that people change their ways and then deny them the opportunity to demonstrate that change. 

By recognizing the difficult and complicated truth about crime – how we define it, how we enforce the law, how we punish offenders, how we are creating a (self-destructive) divided, rather than united, society through our criminal justice system we can start to address the underlying problems of poverty, addiction and mental illness.  Not only is this a more humane and evolved approach to the problem, it is cheaper and more effective than catchy slogans.

Although none of us is immune from making a bad decision, studies have shown that stress wears down the mind and actually leads to poor judgment.  What could be more stressful than poverty and despair?  Prison, I suppose.

Our current world subsists on quick fixes and flashes of light.  We judge rapidly, harshly, and  permanently to our own detriment.  Three strikes, we say, and you are out – out of our sight, out of our thoughts, out of our “civil” society.  Baseball metaphors really sing in headlines and talking points, but they make no sense in determining the trajectory of human lives. 

Humbly asking forgiveness of the literary gods for the transgression of bullet points, I give you our first president, George Washington:

1.     Begging for and receiving a command in the British military for which he had no experience, he caused what can only be considered a murder leading to the Seven Years War. 

2.     He owned slaves and signed the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. 

3.     As president, he taxed spirits to pay down the federal debt; those most greatly affected were poor, rural farmers…who rebelled…so he had them rounded up…and convicted.

Oh my, forget the mythical cherry tree and leading the Continental Army to revolutionary victory, that’s three strikes.   

Without question, there are some people who are broken and cannot be fixed, but even Charles Manson gets parole hearings. As an early sinner turned saint confessed, “Victoria veritatis est caritas.”  Hating is easy but it solves nothing.  Truth requires love built on pillars of forgiveness, opportunity and hope - three strikes for justice.