What I Meant With the Last Posting

I got a fairly thin response to my last post - although, I must say the the one comment I got was excellent, taking the question in a different direction than what I intended (thanks, Tracey).

Here's what I was ruminating on at the time: Anonymous Alan had posted a comment on one of my last entries brining up the issue of justice and the criminal punishment system we have.

I was interested in this, because I attend a church that has it's roots in the Friends/Quaker denomination, and our current criminal justice system was influenced heavily by this group. My understanding is that our current system of putting criminals in a cell to sit until they are set free came about under the influence of the Quakers. The thinking was that criminals would sit and reflect on their crimes, and end up repenting, and turning their lives around. Hence the name "penetentiary" - where you repent and do pennence.

While I can see this as a noble idea, the practical outcome has been Hell. Criminals shoved together with no one but other criminals to interact with. A numbing repetition of days without purpose. Overall, a degredation of the human spirit, and then release into a world that recognizes no change, only remembers past sins.

Woefully missing from our current punishment to crime is the concept of restitution - you break someone's window, you get it fixed. As it now stands, if you are the victim of a crime, the criminal is not responsible to you for anything, they are only responsible to the state to sit for a prearranged time period, and then go free. Everyone involved is left damaged and unreconciled.

What is the alternative? What should happen, instead of what does?

I think we have to start to seriously consider an insistence upon restitution. The victim is then restored, and the criminal is allowed to make the effort to make right what they have made wrong.

So what "should" happen in the example from my last post? Property should be returned. Damages should be paid for. Forgivenss should be sought.

There's more to it than just this - how do you restore an assault victim, for example? But I think this is a start.

Now what do you all think? Is there merit to restoration? How many huge holes need to be plugged in my call for change?

I guess that's all for now.