I Was Just Wondering …

This blog was written in November, 2014

            I hear a good deal of just plain misinformation. In here they call it “inmate.com.” Some guy, somewhere “hears” something and it takes on a life of its own. For example, at least once a month a rumor will begin that “The Governor just brought back 65%.” Couple of problems with that: First, there never was “65%” (sentences normally served at 65% of time assessed); and second, the Governor doesn’t have the power to en masse change 40,000 inmates’ sentences. I used to try and explain “reality” – but too often guys want to believe what they want to believe. Truth doesn’t matter.

            Funny I see that same thing in the “real world” as I watch “normal” society’s reactions to a host of issues. And, it got me thinking, and I was just wondering.

            Fact: 1 in 3 black males born in 2001, 1 in 6 Latino men, can expect to go to jail during their lifetime. Black kids make up 18% of people arrested, 36% of people convicted, and 55% of the people sent to prison. How can anyone say our criminal justice system isn’t (1) racially biased and (2) horribly broken? Just wondering.

            If you believe in the death penalty, can you honestly say mistakes don’t happen and that the system is free of bias, political influence, and poor, rushed police investigations? Just wondering.

            A recent study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Center on Media, Crime, and Justice, indicates that while crime rates (violent and nonviolent) continue to decrease crime stories in local newspapers ranked sixth in topics covered. “Locally, perceptions are created by news coverage.” I was wondering if rape and murder rates are at generationally low levels, why do our media outlets make it seem like we’re living in “Thunder Dome” and, why do we believe those stories?

            Fact: America spends $80 billion on prisons. 25% of all the worlds incarcerated are in this country; we are the only western nation that still employs the death penalty; we spend more on crime and punishment than education. One in five children in America suffer from hunger. We spend more on defense than the next ten nations (including China and Russia) combined. I was just wondering, is this what the founding fathers had in mind when they risked their lives? Can’t we do better?

            If Virginia spends $1.2 billion this year to keep 40,000 behind bars and one-third of those released this year will re-offend and return to prison isn’t it obvious the system isn’t working? Just wondering.

            I was just wondering, we claim to be a “Christian” nation; what would Jesus say about all this? At the end of the day, shouldn’t that be the real issue? Just wondering.