From Arrogant Self-Righteousness to Ardent Defender of Justice

 Before I was convicted of a crime and sent to prison, I had a self-righteous attitude towards "convicts." They committed the crime, let them do the time. Who cares about the conditions in prison? They should have thought about that before committing their crimes. Today, I hear these same sentiments from some prison guards and administrators. 

As someone who holds the U.S. Constitution in high regard, I'm now surprised at my formerly ignorant and arrogant view towards accused and even convicted people. The Constitution certainly provides protections even to the "reprobates" in society. The Founders recognized that how we treat the least in society reflects on society's moral character. But for those whose only desire is revenge and retribution, Constitutional rights matter very little. 

For those with this strict retributive view, when people commit crimes, they surrender their rights. For all intents and purposes, they cease to be people. Such were the sentiments of those who justified slavery as a moral institution. Dehumanization in the mind allows for justifying all sorts of injustice. 

Perhaps it's unfair to compare modern retributivists with slavers. But the parallels are hard to ignore. For a society to be a just society, it must punish crime, and that punishment should not be pleasant. However, a person's removal and isolation from society, and his or her loss of freedom are punishment enough. Progressively stricter isolation and restriction might be necessary for uncontrollable prisoners, but even this practice can be carried out with dignity. 

Whether deterrence, incapacitation, reform, punishment, or balanced scales is the driving prison philosophy, it can be carried out humanely. But any of these philosophies that fail to honor the dignity of human life, even the life of prisoners, do not hold the U.S. Constitution in high regard. It's easy to hold such views when you're on the free side of the fences. 

The factor that revealed my own duplicity and self-righteous attitude was my own incarceration. Sure, I want to personally be treated with dignity, but I have also developed a strong opposition to oppression in general. That includes the oppression prisoners experience in a broken and often unjust prison system, but it starts with the oppression and harm our victims have experienced. 

I write a lot about prison issues on this blog because I am experiencing the daily frustrations of prison life. But highlighting these issues in no way reduces the burden I feel for those we prisoners harmed, both directly and indirectly. It's a heavy weight I carry with me daily. It's also a driving factor in what I fill my time with every day. I have much damage to repair, and though I can't do so directly at this time, I can work to help others leave prison compelled and empowered to never harm anyone again. 

I make no apologies for speaking out against oppression and abuse, of prisoners or any other people group in America. I know the moral harm experienced as both an abuser and now as a prisoner who experiences abuse of power. I'd rather be a defender of vulnerable and oppressed populations of people than the self-righteous, duplicitous abuser I used to be.