Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3826-3830 (10-14 September 2018)
Zebediah:
All of you are missing the point.
The American criminal justice system isn’t designed to rehabilitate or reform those caught in its grasp. It isn’t even really designed to punish them.
The system is designed by politicians who are trying to get themselves reelected in a society where “tough on crime” gets votes. If the prisons are full of people, then those politicians can point to that and say that the system is working.
The system is increasingly operated by private for-profit prison corporations. If the prisons are full of people, then those corporations make more money, and they can say that the system is working.
In large parts of the country the system is the cornerstone of a centuries-long effort to oppress minorities. If the prisons are full of black and brown and poor and foreign people, the system is doing its job.
Above all, the criminal justice system is designed to allow those who are not imprisoned by it to feel a sense of moral superiority over those who are. Read through this thread again and tell me if it’s doing its job or not.
What does the American criminal justice system do? It wins elections. It makes money. It keeps minorities “in their place.” It does these things very well.
It is not designed to reform or rehabilitate prisoners because those goals are in conflict with the actual goals of the system. It is therefore no surprise that it does not accomplish these things.
So tell me, why doesn’t May have warm fuzzy memories of being involved in a system like that?
dutchrvl:
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 13 Sep 2018, 22:11 ---Hating ex-cons doesn't make us safer. Re-integrating them does. May shouldn't get another job at a bank but the better the livelihood she can pursue the better off society is.
--- End quote ---
It is incredible how many people don't seem to understand this simple concept.
Many people seem to not be satisfied with any criminal serving their time, but feel like they should continue to suffer some kind of eternal punishment, failing to realize how that is incredibly detrimental to society as a whole.
Perhaps they are just not satisfied with the original sentence, but that's besides the point. Once time has been served, rehabilitation including a reasonable outlook on life should be the goal, otherwise it's just asking for recidivism. (there's a reason for the saying that the American justice system does not rehabilitate criminals but instead makes for worse criminals after release)
jwhouk:
Already have a thread in the DISCUSS forum for this topic.
NemesisDancer:
The main thing I take from today's strip is that tea is really expensive in America ($6 is like.. £4, right? A pot of tea would be between about £1.75 and £2 here, unless you were somewhere really posh/expensive like Bath or Central London)
Zebediah:
$6.00 is expensive for tea here too. I refer you to the beverage menu at Woodstar Cafe in downtown Northampton for some more reasonable prices.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version