Mass Incarceration
English 2
9 September 2013
Mass Incarceration Mass incarceration is one of very many huge problems we have here in America. But when you really look into the core of the situation, whose fault is it really. Right away you think it is the criminals fault for getting arrested in the first place right? More people should be well behaved and not end up in prison? But what a lot of people fail to notice are the ones that actual do the actual sentencing. In Paul Butlers book, Lets Get Free he writes, “I became a prosecutor because I hate bullies. I stopped being a prosecutor because I hate bullies.” Do I think that some people belong in prison? Absolutely. But I also think that there are also even more people that do not deserve to be there and that’s why we have this problem. Paul Butler Claims, “the criminal justice system gives the state a monopoly on excising…retribution. Its legal hate.” (Butler, 4) This is what I think prosecutors do. They send whoever they want to prison just because they have the authority to do so. I think it is 100% wrong. The justice system is so unjust and erroneous that I think it gives even more power to those involved in working for it than what they actually deserve. Paul Butler says that, In 2008, in a high crime neighborhood in DC, the police would stop any driver and every driver. You were required to answer whether or not you had a “legitimate purpose” for being there. If you did not have a legitimate purpose, you were told to leave. Failure to comply would result in you being arrested for the crime of “ failure to obey a police officer”(Butler 24) Cathy Lanier the DC police chief , says, “in certain areas we need to go beyond the normal methods of policing.”(Butler, 24). People become police officers and all of a sudden think that they have to go above and beyond their job description. It needs to stop. They are there to protect people. Not make them feel like they are a criminal.
9 September 2013
Mass Incarceration Mass incarceration is one of very many huge problems we have here in America. But when you really look into the core of the situation, whose fault is it really. Right away you think it is the criminals fault for getting arrested in the first place right? More people should be well behaved and not end up in prison? But what a lot of people fail to notice are the ones that actual do the actual sentencing. In Paul Butlers book, Lets Get Free he writes, “I became a prosecutor because I hate bullies. I stopped being a prosecutor because I hate bullies.” Do I think that some people belong in prison? Absolutely. But I also think that there are also even more people that do not deserve to be there and that’s why we have this problem. Paul Butler Claims, “the criminal justice system gives the state a monopoly on excising…retribution. Its legal hate.” (Butler, 4) This is what I think prosecutors do. They send whoever they want to prison just because they have the authority to do so. I think it is 100% wrong. The justice system is so unjust and erroneous that I think it gives even more power to those involved in working for it than what they actually deserve. Paul Butler says that, In 2008, in a high crime neighborhood in DC, the police would stop any driver and every driver. You were required to answer whether or not you had a “legitimate purpose” for being there. If you did not have a legitimate purpose, you were told to leave. Failure to comply would result in you being arrested for the crime of “ failure to obey a police officer”(Butler 24) Cathy Lanier the DC police chief , says, “in certain areas we need to go beyond the normal methods of policing.”(Butler, 24). People become police officers and all of a sudden think that they have to go above and beyond their job description. It needs to stop. They are there to protect people. Not make them feel like they are a criminal.