No other nation on earth imprisons as many of their population as we do. None nobody. That being said our criminal justice system is seriously screwed. Never should anyone be convicted on the testimony of a jail house snitch or a co defendant.District Attorneys need to quit worrying about their conviction numbers going into the election cycle. Law enforcement has to quit going for the low hanging fruit,set aside their egos and admit that they have been and will continue to make bad arrests either through ignorance, desire to make the numbers. We fall down all over. There is no "progressive sentencing" If you commit a felony from anything as petty as stealing a car. to baby raping, you are going to the same prison,baby raper maybe be car theirs roomy. Yeah BR is doing thirty,CS is doing seven. At the end of that seven years living in a draw blood or die environment, is CS gonna be rehabilitated or insane? Are you going to do your part. After CS has done his time, are you going to offer him a job, or hang a scarlet letter around his life,forcing him to the bottom of the barrel with no way out. Believe me, once the criminal justice system has you there is no getting out.
For several years, I was a member of Kairos, which is a Christian missionary group that visits prisons for the purpose of conducting bible studies. I've met several "lifers" who had very dramatic conversions to Christianity. Some may think that these are just "jailhouse conversions" to try to gain some sort of leniency or favors. Could be for some, but not all. One of my good friends murdered 4 men in a fit of rage in a fight over his wife. He was one of the nicest persons you'll ever meet, and he told me he was looking forward to dying and going to heaven, since he'll never see the outside of prison. I believed him. But some were very sincere and permanent, and I can testify to that for sure. I was at Keen Mountain, and Essex in Virginia several times and had personal interaction with them. These were very controlled visits, and we were very carefully vetted, and the prisoners were very carefully screened before they were allowed to participate. These were some of the most meaningful times of service in my career. It would too long to tell of some of my experiences in prison, but there are some great examples of persons who have changed dramatically. Take for example, David Berkowitz, the son of Sam killer. He was remarkably saved by a prison ministry performed by the Gideons, one of whom witnessed to him from his Gideon bible. This man is now studying the bible faithfully every day and is teaching a bible class. (his picture below) So, of course, there are some who belong in prison and its right that they are there to pay for their crimes. I am just pointing out that not all prisoners are terrible people. Yes, they committed a terrible act, maybe in a fit of rage, but they have repented and God has forgiven them. And if He has forgiven them, so should we. I'm not talking of all of them, just the ones who are sorry for their act.
"Finding the Lord" Hah! what a load that is. Who cares. Scum is scum. When the scum is on his well deserved journey,he can negotiate with Sky Daddy. Vengeance is very much a part of justice, and I for one want my pound, be it Muslim Christian, Buddhist, or Pastafarion.
Their job should be to do their best to see that justice is done, and that's not always a conviction.
There is a series on Netflix about such as that; you might find it interesting... https://www.netflix.com/search?q=innocence project&jbv=80214563&jbp=0&jbr=0 I recently watched a movie on Amazon Prime Video called "Trial by Fire" about a young Texas father (Todd Willingham) who was wrongly convicted of killing his young children in a fire. It was quite upsetting. https://www.amazon.com/Trial-Fire-J...by+fire&qid=1590015836&s=instant-video&sr=1-1
It would be a rarity to find anyone on the face of this earth who hasn’t been accused of doing something they didn’t do. Whoever made the accusation was totally convinced and some could even provide evidence but even with all that, the person was innocent. The guilty party goes scot free and the innocent party suffers the lashes. Just because it is called the department of justice doesn’t mean that everything is just. It does mean (hopefully) that more has been investigated and presented by trained individuals in order to ascertain whom the real guilty party is. Due to advances in our tech systems it is much harder for innocent people to land in prison but the system still isn’t perfect and never will be. It is weird though that more people do not write about how many real criminals are walking free because of our imperfect justice system.
Todd Willingham was put to death by the state of Texas. Examination of the "scientific evidence" that was the bogus proof that he murdered his children was debunked after he was killed. I'd prefer more guilty people walking free than the death of one innocent.
There is a guy languishing in prison who was accused of murder in Ada, OK and even though the real murderer was prosecuted many years later, he's still in jail. I read the book, Dreams of Ada and also, John Grisham's book, An Innocent Man which is about this fellow.
This is the reason that police and prosecutors should not have qualified immunity. Knowing that they will in almost all case be held harmless does nothing to encourage a thorough and proper job. All police departments need to have a civilian review board. District Attorneys need to be employees,not elected officials
I hope this can be discussed without religion or politics influencing the response. I am opposed to the death penalty because I don't think it's sufficient punishment. Solitary Confinement for a period of years with no parole is more of a punishment. I could support the death penalty if it could be carried out immediately after sentencing to avoid appeals or delays of any kind.