Although the United States has about 4 percent of the world’s
population,
one-fourth of all those imprisoned on Earth are in
the US.
In September 2025 of about 2 million people are incarcerated in the US, and of these
1,098 are in state prisons, 203,000 in federal prisons and jails, 562,000 in local jails,
28,000 youth, 48,000 in immigration detention, and 25,000 involuntarily committed.
Many are there
because of the “war on drugs,”
and more than half are
people of color.
An additional 4,700,000 people are on probation
or parole in the US.
More than eleven million people are arrested
in the US each year,
and the US spends seven times as much as
most European democracies on crime.
The rate of homicides with
guns in the United States is about twenty times
that of England
or France.
Yet 88% of US crimes are nonviolent, and only three
percent result in injuries.
In 1980 California spent
3% of its budget on prisons and 18% on higher education;
but by
1994 the prisons budget had passed the higher education budget.
California's “three-strikes law,” increased those
on prisons.
From 1980 to 2000
the US per capita spending on prisons increased 189%,
and in Texas
the increase was 401%.
This shameful situation is a gross waste
of human and financial resources.
Most ancient and indigenous cultures used a community system
of justice
that has been called restorative.
In order to prevent
revenge and on-going feuds,
offenders had to compensate their
victims in some way.
Although some of these also used barbaric
punishments such as death or mutilation,
these were usually only
imposed for the most serious offenses.
During the rise of empires
and the powerful nation states under monarchical power,
the state
took over the community function and made criminals pay fines,
ignoring victims.
In the late 18th century prisons began to
be used more extensively for punishment.
The idea of using them
as institutions of corrections developed,
and they were renamed
penitentiaries with the hope that
criminals would repent and become
rehabilitated.
This philosophy reached its peak during the liberal
era of the 1960s and 1970s;
but since then a conservative trend
has brought back retribution,
and politicians have exploited widespread
fears of having criminals “back on the streets,”
resulting
in longer sentences and large increases in prison populations.
At the same time a victims’ rights movement has sprung up,
and
now all fifty states in the US allow victims to testify at sentencing
hearings.
A few experiments have been successful at applying a modern
approach to restorative justice
that balances socially beneficial
forms of retribution such as restitution, fines, and community
service with practical methods of rehabilitation.
These programs
have been found to be effective, especially with younger offenders.
Here is a description of how restorative justice can work.
If the offender admits guilt, then obviously no trial is needed.
If a person is convicted in a trial, then the sentencing phase
can still use the methods of restorative justice.
Offenders are
encouraged to take responsibility for their crimes
by participating
in a conference with the victims.
If the victim refuses to participate
in the conference, then a community person
may represent that
type of victim.
Also included are a support person chosen by the
offender who may be a relative, a friend,
an attorney, a spiritual
advisor, or other counselor.
The victim may also have a support
person, and the community may be represented
by a probation officer
and a relevant social worker or counselor.
A facilitator or mediator
directs the conference.
During the conference the offender explains
what he or she did and why.
Then the victim or victims tell their
story.
The offender is encouraged to take responsibility for the
harmful consequences
by apologizing and making restitution to
the victim.
In a negotiated process the offender, the victim,
and the others work out a plan
that might include compensating
the victim, a fine, community service, and a program
for the offender
such as drug-treatment, counseling, education, and job training.
Ideally consensus is achieved; but if not, a majority vote may
settle issues.
If it is the first offense for which the person
has been caught, a successful mediation
may result in no formal
criminal record
once all the conditions agreed upon have been
fulfilled.
Preliminary studies have shown that restorative conferences
help the victims to recover
psychologically by understanding the
offender better and experiencing closure on the incident
as well
as by gaining compensation for the wrong suffered.
The offenders
may realize the consequences of their crimes
by seeing how they
have affected the victims.
By being given the opportunity to take
responsibility and make reparations,
the offender is much more
likely to be reintegrated into society.
Recidivism has been shown
to be lower for those
who go through restorative justice conferences.
In some areas they are called circles or boards.
Thus in restorative
justice the offender, victim, and community
are much more likely
to be healed and restored.
Punishment that is justified only as a deterrent tends to make
the people suffering it worse.
They may become angry at the society
that is punishing them and while in prison
may learn more criminal
behavior and attitudes from fellow inmates.
Society loses by paying
high costs for incarceration.
Victims that neither receive restitution
nor reconciliation continue to suffer
from the consequences of
the crimes.
Restorative justice could be applied to many more
cases and could eventually transform
the criminal justice system
so that victims get more justice,
offenders find the reconciliation
and treatment they need,
and the huge expenses of the penal system
could be greatly reduced.
The United States experimented with the prohibition of alcohol
in the 1920s
and found that it increased violent crime but did
not solve drinking problems.
Because alcohol was the drug of choice
for a large number of people,
that experiment was abandoned in
1933.
However, other drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, psychedelics,
and narcotics
have continued to be illegal.
Some narcotics, stimulants,
and depressants are allowed
only with a prescription by a physician.
Many people believe that the abuse of these drugs could be treated
better
as a health problem rather than as a criminal issue.
Similarly,
other “victimless” crimes such as gambling and prostitution
could be handled better if they were not illegal so that government
could regulate and tax them appropriately.
They are called “victimless” because they may not hurt other people but only oneself.
Therefore
libertarians argue that the government should not interfere with
people
who are not harming others.
By making drugs legal for adults
with prescriptions the huge resources of law enforcement
and the
penal system used for catching and incarcerating those who use
such drugs
could be saved and redirected into more productive
activities such as treatment programs
that help people break these
addictions.
Millions of people would not have to waste their time
and society’s wealth locked up in prisons.
People can still believe
certain behaviors are immoral without necessarily
making those
actions illegal.
These problems are often solved better by using
education and counseling
rather than law enforcement and punishment.
Jails would still be used for those temporarily under arrest
and awaiting bail, trial,
or restorative conferences, and prisons
primarily would only be necessary for the most
violent and hardened
repeat offenders.
Law enforcement would be able to spend more
time finding those committing other crimes
such as fraud, identity
theft, and other nefarious activities that are harming other people.
Restorative justice would help those who think they can get away
with stealing
by teaching them that they will have to pay back
their victims and society
by working honestly to make amends.
With fewer people in prisons more efforts could be made
for rehabilitation
by education, counseling, and job training.
Ironically the most deadly drugs in our society are legal
and
do not require any prescription at all.
The biggest killer by
far is the nicotine that is smoked in cigarettes.
This is changing
in educated countries, and people realizing the dangers of second-hand
smoke are passing laws against smoking in places where other people
breathe.
Alcohol is still a much abused drug and is most lethal
when it affects those operating motor vehicles.
Law enforcement
for the latter and education are also ameliorating this problem.
The drug that is most widely used is caffeine, which is found
in coffee, tea, and colas.
This drug is addictive, and more than
eighty percent
of the American people have the caffeine habit.
Many cannot wake up properly in the morning until they have had
coffee.
Others are hooked on soft drinks that are combined with
so much sugar
that drinking them is contributing greatly to the
recent epidemic in obesity.
Most Americans are overweight, and
obesity has passed up smoking as
the leading cause of death that
is preventable.
The selling of colas has even been allowed in
schools,
where children can develop the bad habit.
I believe we have the right through our government to regulate
the sale of substances
that cause harmful effects to health, especially
since the society and its government
have to pay for health care.
Thus I suggest that we can tax these products with the estimated
amount that
would pay for the likely health costs they inflict.
This provides some deterrent to such bad habits without prohibiting
them altogether
and making them into a criminal problem.
Instead
of threatening to make people’s lives worse by punishing them,
society can regulate these problems more effectively by having
our democratic
government apply financial disincentives that discourage
self-destructive and abusive habits.
These taxes than can be put
to work in programs
of prevention and health care that make people
better.
Global Emergency
Alleviating Poverty
Disarming Weapons of War
Creating Global Democracy
Reforming the US Constitution
Restoring Justice
Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United Nations Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)