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I keep seeing "this is not justice; this is accountability."
Retribution via incarceration certainly isn't justice. But it isn't accountability either.
Retribution via incarceration certainly isn't justice. But it isn't accountability either.
The threat of retribution disincentivizes those accused of crimes from admitting or acknowledging the harm they have caused. Instead, they resort to outright denying that they've done wrong - not from a desire to skirt responsibility, but out of desperation to avoid prison.
In prison, they'll be separated from everyone they have ever loved for years. Many will spend time in solitary confinement and have resulting mental health issues. They'll be beaten and/or sexually assaulted. And if they get out, they will be hard-pressed to find a home or a job.
In order to avoid the horrors of prison, the first words they ever speak in a courtroom will likely be "not guilty." And even if there is eventually a finding of guilty, there will be little to no outward acknowledgment by the individual of the harm they've caused.
More than 90% of the time, they will ultimately plead guilty. When they give their guilty plea, they may be asked to admit guilt to a crime that is either less severe than or different from the crime they actually committed.
When they go before the judge to give their plea, they will be told by their lawyer what to admit to and what to hold back. Many times, they do not have to articulate what harm they have caused. Many times they only have to answer "yes" and "guilty" to questions from the judge.
A plea often takes place in a courtroom filled with strangers - not a room that contains the wronged individual, the families, or members of the community.
if the case goes to trial, the person who committed harm likely will not testify. A panel of strangers returns a verdict. And then you go to prison where virtually no one talks to you about your crime. There is no apology. No answering of victims' questions.
Most jurisdictions even have laws prohibiting victims and those who have committed the crime from communicating with one another.
Those who have been wronged frequently reach the end of the process and find that incarcerating the person who wronged them has not healed their wounds. That is because incarceration of the transgressor does nothing active to repair the harm caused.
It's not that prison isn't harsh enough - prison is a harsh punishment - but it is not the *kind* of thing that requires an individual to own up to what they've done, answer for pain they've caused, or come face to face with people who've suffered because of their actions.
Retribution is not a satisfactory substitute for accountability on the part of the transgressor or healing on the part of the victim.
Don't victims deserve better?
Don't victims deserve better?
