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| Punish the offense or treat the illness? |
| By orlandosentinel.com |
| Published: 01/04/2010 |
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The Greenwood Commonwealth - Our readers’ reaction last week to the rescue of several severely malnourished dogs was decidedly mixed. One sentiment, arguably the most common, was one of outrage, calling for the prosecution of the animals’ owners on cruelty charges. Another side felt that, as awful as the dogs appeared, the focus should be on getting the owners help. Their obvious mistreatment of the dogs may have been the sad but unintentional result of compulsive hoarding. Then there were those, like me, who felt torn in the middle. The picture of the emaciated dog, now known as Little Doll, produced feelings of disgust for anyone who would let an animal suffer like this. Little Doll didn’t get this bony overnight. It took weeks, maybe months of neglect to get to such a pitiable condition. And yet, I can’t help but feel some compassion for Freddy and Carol Mask, the hard-up owners who, according to what’s been reported, had been taking in more strays than they had the money or aptitude to care for. One part of me wants them punished; the other part wants them treated. That tension between justice and compassion, between righteousness and forgiveness is not just created by cases of animal abuse. It’s a struggle that individuals and society face when confronted with all manners of wrongdoing. Mississippi’s budget woes, for example, are forcing the state to wrestle with that tension in the criminal justice system. Until fairly recently, Mississippi’s approach to lawbreakers has been heavy on punishment and short on compassion. We have the highest incarceration rate in a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. We have generally been more inclined to build prisons than try less expensive alternatives. We have been convinced that time behind bars is the best way to deal with people who steal, sell drugs or commit other nonviolent crimes — even as we are told that their crimes are largely fueled by their addictions to drugs or alcohol. This inclination to emphasize punishment over treatment has caused Mississippi’s prison population and its corrections budget to soar over the past decade and a half. That growth, though, has outstripped the state’s financial ability to keep up, particularly in light of the economic downturn that has severely pinched tax collections. Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, in response to current and projected budget pressures, has had some success with getting lawmakers to rethink their “lock ’em up” mentality. He’s tried to convince them that jail space is a precious commodity, best reserved for those who pose the greatest risk to society. It’s been, though, a slow education process. Politics makes lawmakers leery of looking too soft on crime. So do their own personal convictions that those who break the law should suffer harsh consequences. Most victims of crime feel exactly the same way. It’s a whole lot easier to talk about compassion and forgiveness when it’s someone else’s home or car being burglarized. Even if the victims of crime aren’t seeking vengeance, they want to be protected from it happening again. Jail time might not deter crime on the whole, but it does deter the individual criminal while he’s behind bars. Read More. |
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