Sullied
Us, too.
You cannot have been reading this blog for the last almost two years without detecting my antipathy to the Texas criminal justice system from incarceration through parole and beyond. My complaint is that it is unjust, harsh, cruel, and discriminatory. It is wasteful of lives and money. Beyond all that, it destroys families for generations.
The Texas criminal justice system sullies everyone it touches. Let’s examine that.
The kindest assessment one can make of the persons who serve on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles, and TDCJ Executive Director and Staff is they strive to maintain the status quo, despite the fact they are aware of the grievous harm prison inflicts.
Prison guards have among the worst jobs imaginable. They are given absolute authority over inmates. If there is a dispute between a guard and an inmate, the guard is always right, no matter what facts show. Some guards are hated by inmates, other guards are merely tolerated. Guards rarely receive affirmation from anyone.
The inmate is caged in close quarters for long periods of time with others who violated society’s norms, some of whom are violent and downright mean. The inmate becomes dependent on the prison system, which supplies the inmate’s needs, and which makes virtually all decisions for the inmate. Persons who have been incarcerated must struggle with dependency for the rest of their lives.
The inmate’s family had to operate on its own, with no financial or other help from the inmate, while the inmate was incarcerated. When the inmate is paroled, labeled as a criminal, with only $100, the family must provide financial and emotional support. Plus, family dynamics, which are always difficult, must change to accommodate the person’s return from prison. An inordinate percentage of children who had a parent incarcerated are subsequently incarcerated.
Judges know the poor are not provided adequate legal representation. Nonetheless, they continue to sentence the poor to long prison sentences. Many criminal attorneys are cogs in the merciless system, working, not for their clients, but for the money.
Lawmakers campaign on “Tough on Crime,” even though they know toughness in Black, Hispanic and poor neighborhoods has never been proven effective, costs billions of taxpayer dollars and causes serious racial problems.
Us. We all know something is seriously wrong with our criminal justice system. Through our acquiescence, we are sullied.
I urge you to send an email or write a letter to your federal and state representatives and senators letting them know that you consider prison reform important and urging them to support legislation to treat inmates humanely.