From: "gabriel jans"
To:
am-global@earthlink.net
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2010 18:12:38
Subject: Cruelty in the US Justice & Jail System
Baba
"Tumi a'ma'r a'hva'ne sa'r'a' diyecho..." (P.S. 1265)
Purport:
Baba, You are so gracious You have paid heed to my call of
longing. After remaining quiet for a long time, in the end You have
finally listened to the cry of my heart.
Such a long span of time has passed. The tender leaves of spring have
become yellow and fallen down. The green vegetation in the mountains
also underwent huge change; I saw they did not remain the same. Such a
long span of time has passed.
In the end, ultimately I received the showering of Your grace. My
heart is inundated with the bliss of having You. You have filled my life
with ecstasy.
Baba, You know so many liilas, divine plays, which I do not
understand. In this situation, I go on only searching You-- feeling
spellbound, astonished, & amazed.
Only You know the glory of Your divine play. Baba, You have filled and
satiated my heart and mind with the showering of Your causeless grace.
Baba, You have heard the cry of my longing....
== CRUELTY OF US JUSTICE & JAIL SYSTEM ==
~ INNOCENT PERSON FORCED TO JAIL FOR 30
YRS ~
Namaskar,
A man in the U.S.A. endured a 30 year incarceration (jail time) for
a crime he did not commit. Ultimately DNA samples proved the man's
innocence. He was released a few weeks ago. That entire story is
noted below.
First we should reflect upon Baba's divine guidelines. Because this
case serves as yet another reminder of how Baba's rational teachings
are needed in each and every sphere of life.
In this below passage from the Justice chapter of Human Society-1,
Baba guides us that our justice system should be corrective in
nature, not penal. That means instead of aiming to punish a person -
for a crime they did or did not commit - our approach should be to
correct the perceived misconduct. That will beneficial for one and
all.
In a step by step basis, here are Baba's teachings on this important
topic.
BABA'S GUIDELINES ON
JUSTICE
First, Baba describes how mistakes are bound happen in any justice
system. Never will the courts be 100% correct. Hence we should not
aim to punish criminals, but rather rectify them. Punishment creates
a negative or "malevolent" feeling in the minds of those being
punished. For all these reasons our judicial system should be
corrective, not punitive.
Baba says, "I am personally of the opinion that since flaws will
always unavoidably remain, no matter how good the judicial system,
it is not the intent of nature for one human being to penalize
another. Moreover, a detailed analysis reveals that whenever a
punitive action is taken to penalize somebody, a feeling of
vindictiveness arises in the minds of those administering the
punishment, which in turn creates a malevolent mentality. I
therefore think that the term “penal system” should be deleted from
social terminology. If and when somebody, whether a judge or an
ordinary person, takes any type of action against another, it should
be corrective, not punitive." (Human Society Part 1, "Justice")
Next, Baba describes how with a corrective system, the defendant /
criminal will benefit from the corrective measures, even if that
person is innocent. In such a system, an innocent person will never
be wrongly incarcerated for 30 years as recently happened.
Baba says, "If a system of corrective measures is introduced,
criminals, whether they were deeply involved in the crime or not,
will have no reason to complain against anyone. Although there may
be flaws in the judgement, it will not harm them in any way. A
person who is definitely guilty will benefit from a system of
corrective measures, and even a person who is not guilty will
benefit from such a system." (Human Society Part 1, "Justice")
Finally, Baba guides us that it is more important and more
beneficial for society to fail to punish a guilty person than to
wrongly punish an innocent one.
Baba says, "Thus my opinion is that no innocent person should have
the opportunity to think or say, “Although I am innocent, I am being
punished because I couldn’t afford a good lawyer” due to flaws in
the judicial system. No doubt society will be adversely affected if
an offender evades the law and is not arrested by the police due to
their incompetence, but far greater damage will be done if an
innocent person is penalized because of a defective judicial
system." (Human Society Part 1, "Justice")
Baba's teachings on justice are totally unique and aim for the
welfare of all involved, not the punishment of the person being
prosecuted.
With the implementation of Baba's guidelines on justice, harsh
mistakes like the one outlined in the case below will be wholly
eliminated.
CRITICAL POINTS ABOUT THE U.S. PENAL
CODE
The following statistics and paragraphs - which come from 3rd party
sources & studies - provide us with a wide-angle vision of the
present-day US justice and prison system:
"The Bureau of Justice Statistics recently reported that there are
now two million people in the nation’s prisons and jails. This
figure is a record high and represents the product of an
unprecedented 30-year rise in the use of incarceration. The national
inmate population is now six times that of the approximately 330,000
total of 1972, just prior to the inception of the modern day “get
tough” movement."
"In this regard, the U.S. rate of incarceration of 702 inmates per
100,000 population represents not only a record high, but situates
this nation as the world leader in its use of imprisonment. The
continuous rise in the prison population in the U.S. has vaulted
this country ahead of our old Cold War rival Russia to become the
world’s leading incarcerator.
For comparative purposes, the U.S. now locks up its citizens at a
rate 5-8 times that of the industrialized nations to which we are
most similar."
"Overall rates of incarceration, based on the total population,
obscure the broad variation by which imprisonment impacts various
demographic groups. In this regard, African American males are
clearly the most heavily affected by current policies, with one of
every eight black males in the age group 25-29 currently in prison
or jail. Data from the Department of Justice demonstrate that a
black male born today has a 29% chance of spending time in state or
federal prison in his lifetime. And in the low-income neighborhoods
most heavily affected by these trends, the figures are even more
striking. One researcher calculates that 75% of black males in
Washington, D.C. can expect to go to prison or jail during his
lifetime. Racial and ethnic disparities for other groups -- African
American women, Hispanics, and Native Americans – while not as
severe as those for black males, are nonetheless well above the
national average and have been rising significantly in recent years.
Regardless of one’s political orientation, these dramatically high
rates of incarceration should be of concern to all Americans. The
jarring contrast of the wealthiest society in human history
maintaining the greatest use of imprisonment presents a clear
indication of troubling circumstances. We can debate the causes of
these developments and appropriate remedies, but what is clear is
that the problem is one deserving significant public and policymaker
attention."
"Cross-National Sentencing Comparisons Comparing the limited data
examining U.S. sentencing policies with those of other nations
demonstrates that American sentencing practices appear to be harsher
for many offenses...in the case of property crime, it is clear that
the United States incarcerates more and for longer periods of time
than
similar nations."
CAUSE OF HIGH INCARCERATION IN THE US
At any given
time at least 7 million people in the US are in jail, on parole, or on probation
etc. That means 3% of its
entire population of 300 million are in jail, on parole or on
probation. Of those 7 million, 3 million are veritably locked up in
jail, or 1.0% of the total population.
In stark contrast, most countries have a much
lower percentage. For instance, in England only 0.2% of the
population is in jail - or 5 times less than the US. And half the
countries around the world have a lower percentage than England. Hence,
the US prison population is very high.
So why are so many sitting in prisons in the US? Here are some of the reasons.
1) Extreme disparity of wealth: Many in the US have no money to
educate
themselves and they lack the basic necessities of life whereas
others in the US are extremely wealthy and have more money than they
could ever spend in their lifetime.
2) Racism: Juries and judges are biased against dark-skinned people,
i.e. African Americans, those who were slaves in the past.
3) Jails are private enterprises: There is a growing number of prisons
in the US that are privately owned. In order to make a profit, they need
a maximum number of inmates. Hence there is a private interest to fill
the jail. To keep the economy strong, the penal system is pressured to
sentence more people to jail time.
4) Extreme selfishness: Many think so much about themselves that they
become engrossed in their own unit desires and do not consider the
needs of others. For that reason, the poor do not receive the
requisite help they need and are instead left to their own devices, often sentenced to jail when they do wrong.
There is plenty of
money in the US to solve many of the social ills, but it is not used to educate and employ youths to bring them on
the proper path. Rather those poor youths are left to their own means to commit
crimes and sit in jail their entire life.
Billion of dollars are
then spent to maintain the prison system, but only a fraction of that
is
needed to educate and rectify people so that they would not commit
crimes in the first place. Because of the self-centered theory of
capitalism, neither the leaders nor the public thinks in this way.
On average, to costs $100,000 to educate youths in the US. And that
education will last a lifetime. In contrast, it costs $75,000 to keep
one
criminal in jail for one single year, yet that person
may be in jail for many decades.
So the government might spend 10 million dollars to keep a murderer
in jail their
entire life (that includes court fees, legal fees, living expenses,
counseling, medical attention and more). So for just 1% of that 10
dollars, one can educate those youths and in turn they would become
productive citizens. And the greater result would be that the society
will be healthier.
Until this is properly addressed this problem will only grow. Why? Because
the wealth disparity is increasing so the crime rate is going up.
CASE STUDIES OF EXONEREES FROM U.S. PRISON
SYSTEM
By reading these following stories, it become quite clear how being
wrongly sentenced to jail destroys the finer qualities of the human
personality. In this way innocent people become totally degraded and
harmed.
Mr. Michael Anthony Williams did not commit any crime at all but
tragically he was ordered to prison as a young & tender
16-year-old adolescent and released. This innocent young lad sat
needlessly in prison for 22 years. Now as a 40-year-old man, since
his release from prison a year ago or so, it is not at all
surprising to see that Mr Williams has encountered serious
difficulties. After all, he was placed in prison before finishing
school and without any job experience. So upon his release from
jail, without any compensation or proper support from the government
for being wrongly imprisoned, he has lived in a homeless shelters
and had a series of jobs, none lasting more than six months.
Gene Bibbins was wrongly sentenced to time in prison. Prison life
took its toll on his psyche. The harsh treatment by guards and other
inmates and being exposed to drugs and violence led him into an
emotional and psychological wasteland. Even though 100% innocent, he
spent 4 1/2 years of torture behind bars. It was like being a POW.
Upon his release, Geneworked a series of temporary factory jobs but
coule never recover fully. He lost all hope and sadly he became a
victim of drug abuse, and landed back in jail in East Baton Rouge,
accused of cocaine possession and battery.
The stories are not unusual for men who have spent many years in
prison. What makes the stories of these men different are that they
bring into serious question how
living in jail destroys the human personality. After all these
people were innocent people. Their lives got ruined by going to jail
when they should not even have been in prison in the first place.
Such men are among the more than 200 prisoners exonerated since 1989
by DNA evidence — almost all of whom had been incarcerated for
murder or rape. Their varied experiences are typical of what The New
York Times found in one of the most extensive looks to date at what
happens to those exonerated inmates after they leave prison.
The Times researched the compensation claims of all 206 people known
by the Innocence Project to have been exonerated through DNA
evidence as of August 2007. At least 79 — nearly 40 percent — got no
money for their years in prison. Half of those have federal lawsuits
or state claims pending. More than half of those who did receive
compensation waited two years or longer after exoneration for the
first payment.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Vincent Moto, exonerated in 1996 of a rape
conviction after serving almost nine years in Pennsylvania. “They
have programs for drug dealers who get out of prison. They have
programs for people who really do commit crimes. People get out and
go in halfway houses and have all kinds of support. There are
housing programs for them, job placement for them. But for the
innocent, they have nothing.”
Most of the 137 exonerated inmates researched by The Times entered
prison in their teens or 20s, and they stayed there while some of
their peers on the outside settled on careers, married, started
families, bought homes and began saving for retirement. They emerged
many years behind, and it has been difficult to catch up.
"The current design of prison systems don't work," said criminal
justice expert Joel Dvoskin, PhD, of the University of Arizona.
"Overly punitive approaches used on violent, angry criminals only
provide a breeding ground for more anger and more violence."
BABA'S GUIDELINE
By Baba's grace we have to put an end to tortures imposed on
innocent people by our justice system. At present the exploiters are
committing crimes against humanity yet are seen as upstanding if not
honoured citizens. Whereas the have-nots are forced into crime or
even wrongly blamed of crimes they did not commit. Now we have to
analyse who is the real culprit and fix the system accordingly to
one is that reformatory and not punitive.
Baba says, "The ills perpetrated in society are in a great measure
created by the exploiters themselves. To swell their bank balances
the exploiters create an artificial scarcity of food, clothes and
other necessary consumer goods, and loot profits in the black
market. Those who have no buying capacity for high-priced food and
clothes take to stealing and other shady methods in order to meet
their bare necessities. These ill-fed, ill-clad flocks of poor
wretches work for these greedy black marketeers and smugglers. When
apprehended, it is they who are penalized – the rich escape on the
strength of their influence. Throwing their conscience to the four
winds, these poor wretches take to sin and crime still more
desperately. The society accuses these sinners and criminals, while
the rich exploiters enact the roles of popular leaders, wear
garlands, let loose fireworks of speeches and exhort the masses with
a clarion call to make more sacrifices." (Human Society II, 109)
Namaskar,
Note 1:
A SCARY STATISTIC FOR THE US PRISON SYSTEM
& SOCIETY
"With 7 million American adults in prison and almost 50 percent of
them African-American males, many children are growing up without
fathers and are at risk for continuing the vicious cycle of criminal
behavior, Dvoskin said. "If we don't make the changes now, we will
see these numbers go up."
Baba says, "Judges can rarely say with total
conviction that one person is guilty and another innocent. Their
verdicts are based on the testimonies of witnesses, the evidence and
the arguments of lawyers. They have very little scope to verify
whether or not the witnesses are telling the truth or whether or not
the evidence is genuine. Experienced lawyers often win cases because
even an eminent judge becomes confused by their arguments. Moreover,
if the experienced lawyers also happen to be retired judges, it will
be very easy for them to win over the judge. A judge who previously
worked under an experienced lawyer will usually find it difficult to
reject his or her evidence and arguments. In other words, such
lawyers exert a personal influence over the judge. Of course in most
developed countries nowadays retired judges are prevented from
practising law. This regulation is highly commendable, and results in
the general public getting a better chance of receiving justice.
However, there is still no guarantee that people will receive
impartial justice, because in practice very few judges are able to
verify whether the witnesses are telling the truth or whether the
evidence is genuine, or to closely scrutinize the verbose arguments
of experienced lawyers." (Human Society Part 1, "Justice")
Baba says, "It is necessary to closely examine
the standard of judges. Those who are permitted to sit in judgement
over others and have the power to punish must be closely monitored to
see whether any degeneration has occurred in their intelligence,
capacity for deliberation, or moral character. From time to time, as
and when necessary, reports about the character and conduct of judges
may be required by bodies representing the people. A judge who is a
drunkard, of dubious character or engaged in any form of antisocial
activity has no right to pass judgement on others. I am emphasizing
the personal standards of judges because the nature of justice is
such that higher priority has to be given to temporal, spatial and
personal factors than to legal processes. (Human Society Part 1, "Justice")
Note 2:
HERE IS THE STORY OF THE RECENT
EXONEREE
One innocent Dallas County man who was falsely charged of rape and
robber in 1979 rape has been duly exonerated after unjustly spending
30yrs in jail.
12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, January 4, 2011
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
A man in U.S.A. faced 30 year incarceration, jail for a crime he did
not commit...
With your preferred search engine, you can easily read about this story on-line.
