{"id":95572,"date":"2023-03-15T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=95572"},"modified":"2023-03-20T11:04:03","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T15:04:03","slug":"problems-with-criminal-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/problems-with-criminal-justice-system\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 Worst Problems With the Criminal Justice System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the main problems with the criminal justice system<\/a>? How can we fix our understanding of justice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criminal justice system is far from perfect, but we can help get it there. Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy<\/em> highlights the institutions that have corrupted how we view justice and offers solutions to guide us in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn more about these problems and how we can fix them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Correcting Our Understanding of Justice<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Stevenson, four institutions have affected our view of justice, especially in relation to race: slavery, convict leasing, the Jim Crow<\/a> era, and mass incarceration. He argues that these institutions have corrupted our understanding of justice<\/strong>, explaining the problems with criminal justice system’s complacency with unjust punishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: It bears mentioning that, throughout Just Mercy<\/em>, Stevenson implicitly likens the plight of enslaved Black people to that of imprisoned Black people today. Though he doesn\u2019t go as far as other experts, who argue that mass incarceration amounts to modern-day slavery<\/a>, he remains aware of the parallels between the subjugation of Black people via slavery and their disproportionate subjugation via mass incarceration today.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institution #1: Slavery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, Stevenson claims that slavery\u2014and its legacy of racial terror<\/a>, in which Black men were publicly lynched throughout the South\u2014has influenced our conception of justice. In particular, he argues that frequent lynchings of Black men led to the modern death penalty, as it redirected the ire of white southerners that previously culminated in lynchings. By recognizing this connection, Stevenson implies that we can help undermine the broad public support for capital punishment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: The term \u201clynching\u201d has long eluded straightforward definition<\/a>, as activists struggled to settle on a single definition. However, in 1940, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other activist groups agreed that lynching was an extrajudicial killing done \u201cunder the pretext of service to justice, race, or tradition<\/a>.\u201d On this definition, some contemporary murders of Black men\u2014such as Ahmaud Arbery<\/a>, who was chased down and murdered under the false pretense that he was a burglar\u2014qualify as lynchings.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institution #2: Convict Leasing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, Stevenson discusses convict leasing\u2014the practice of convicting former slaves of frivolous crimes to lease them to private businesses while incarcerated. Convict leasing, Stevenson argues, has effectively led to the re-enslavement of former slaves. Consequently, he implies that it\u2019s responsible for our complacency with the modern prison labor system, in which prisoners work for little to no wages<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: States can compel prisoners to work for free because of a so-called \u201cslavery loophole<\/a>\u201d in the Thirteenth Amendment<\/a>, which prohibits slavery and involuntary solitude except <\/em>as a punishment for a convicted crime<\/a>. In November of 2022, however, four states\u2014Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont\u2014voted to remove this loophole from their respective state constitutions<\/a>, signaling support for a movement to change the Thirteenth Amendment itself.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institution #3: The Jim Crow Era<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Stevenson argues that we fail to recognize the legacy of the Jim Crow Era<\/a>, in which state laws legalized racial segregation<\/a>. In particular, he observes that while we readily acknowledge the achievements of the civil rights movement<\/a>, we don\u2019t acknowledge the lasting harm that segregation causes by inflicting daily insults and humiliation on Black people. In turn, he suggests that to understand the discrimination that currently underlies the justice system, we must understand these lasting harms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In The New Jim Crow<\/em><\/a>, Michelle Alexander argues that the War on Drugs<\/a>\u2014a government initiative beginning in the 1970s that purported to stop the use and distribution of illegal drugs\u2014furthers the segregation of the Jim Crow Era<\/a> under the guise of punishing criminals. Specifically, she argues that despite equal levels of drug use in Black and white communities<\/a>, Black people are arrested disproportionately for drug crimes. Consequently, she claims that the War on Drugs sequesters Black people in prisons<\/a>, turning them into second-class citizens just like in the original Jim Crow Era.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institution #4: Mass Incarceration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, Stevenson argues that mass incarceration has made us complacent with the disproportionate imprisonment of people of color, as well as unjust practices like the targeting of impoverished communities for drug crimes. To fully grasp the shortcomings of our justice system, he implies we must reckon with the reality of mass incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Concrete Steps to Improve the US Justice System<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many of Stevenson\u2019s suggestions for creating a just society are abstract, focusing on how we can better understand <\/em>the underpinnings of our current justice system. But other authors, such as Ibram X. Kendi and Michelle Alexander, provide more actionable advice to supplement Stevenson\u2019s ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In How to Be an Antiracist<\/em><\/a>, for instance, Kendi offers various strategies to combat racial inequality at the individual level. These strategies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n