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It& #39;s interesting to be reading Chanel Miller& #39;s Know My Name (the memoir the victim wrote about the Brock Turner sexual assault case) at this particular moment in history. We& #39;re in the middle of a national conversation about police and prison reform, and I am conflicted. /1
I just finished the chapter where the judge sentenced Turner to 6 months (which was only 3 months), and the injustice is palpable. "He should have gotten more time!" we scream, blood boiling. And yet. I firmly believe that prison is not the right way to hold people accountable./2
On a systemic level, we have decided that prison & sex offender lists seem to be the best consequences when someone harms another by breaking the law, like sexually assaulting someone. But we also know that a lot of innocent people end up in prison. /3
We know that BIPOC are disproportionately incarcerated for petty crimes (that shouldn& #39;t even be crimes) or given longer sentences than white folks. The system is unjust, a cruel way to separate "criminals" from society and get cheap labor. It is a reincarnation of slavery. /4
Prison is also ineffective. Sure, it may make some people reflect on the harm they did, but I& #39;m not convinced it will work for everyone. But letting people roam free without facing consequences for their actions is not the answer either. What about accountability? /5
Accountability is tricky because we resist it, hoping to believe we are not monsters. There isn& #39;t a clear cut way to hold other people accountable. It may be that taking something precious from someone, like your friendship or their good name, will do it. But you can& #39;t be sure./6
This is where I don& #39;t have answers because I am not a policy expert. But I will use this moment of cognitive dissonance to expand my imagination. To imagine a world where people are held accountable for their actions but not in a punitive, unjust, cruel way. /7
A world where harm is acknowledged, internally digested, and truly apologized for. A world where communities that have been harmed receive the justice and dignity they seek. A world where wrongdoers are restored and given the resources they need to not perpetuate harm anymore. /8
I don& #39;t know how exactly we will create that world, but I do know that our current system of policing & incarceration is not it. I know people are doing serious scholarship on this topic. And I know we must hope for this world. Because if we have hope, then we keep fighting. /fin
