Reprinted from The Common Good, no 4, Pentecost 1997
PENAL ABOLITION Is it the Christian Option?
Jim Consedine
Today perhaps the first and only duty of the philosopher is to defend humanity against itself: to defend humanity against that extraordinary temptation towards inhumanity to which, almost without being aware of it, so many humans have yielded.
- Gabriel Marcel
Watching television one night recently, I was amazed to see an item depicting the use of the latest criminal control invention, the electric Ôstun beltÕ. It is a new apparatus which convicted inmates in certain prisons overseas have strapped around them. When punishment is required, it is activated by a prison officer and results in 50,000 volts entering the person. This shock lasts for eight seconds, creates an epileptic-type seizure, the victim being thrown uncontrollably around on the floor. The manufacturers proudly claim Ôthere is no permanent damageÕ.
This latest technological regression is really only a symptom of what has become one of the great social sins of our time, the massive imprisonment of the poor. It doesnÕt matter to what country you look, the same people are being imprisoned at an ever increasing rate. They are the poor, the marginalised, people of ÔcolourÕ, the dispossessed, the drug addicted, indigenous minorities, the unemployed. Few among the wealthy or better educated are ever targeted for this treatment.
All of this became clear at ICOPA VIII, the Eighth International Convention on Penal Abolition, held in Auckland 18-21 February 1997. One hundred and sixty participants from seventeen countries heard a wide variety of speakers challenge many of the basic assumptions we make about crime, the criminal justice system and imprisonment. Their message was a challenging one for a culture like ours, steeped as it is in a punitive response to offending. But was it an honest challenge? And what is a truly Christian response to the issues raised? The ÔAims and MeansÕ of the Catholic Worker movement imply an abolitionist position. I believe this is a moral imperative that not only we, but the whole Church, should now take.
This special edition of The Common Good raises these important questions and argues for radical change. Such a position will not please everyone, least of all those with a vested interest. But it was Jesus, not us, who said that the truth will set us free. We invite people to be open to the voices raised at ICOPA. Let it be GodÕs justice that we seek.
Lest anyone naively assume that only bad people go to prison, let one thing be made clear. Many people do go to prison for some terrible, terrible crimes. But a far greater number go because of the situation of deprivation they were born into (one in three black men aged 20-29 in Los Angeles county are jailed annually), because of the oppressive punitive nature of the political and social systems they live under (New Zealand imprisons at nearly three times the rate of Victoria), and because of the way certain crimes are pursued with vigilance while other crimes are virtually ignored. For example, environmental destruction, the production and sale of faulty products and price rigging are three areas of endemic corporate crime. There is neither strong enough law nor the political will to tackle these matters. The fiasco revealed in the Winebox inquiry gave us all a smell of what goes on.
One often gets the impression that we are surrounded by an ever increasing torrent of criminal activity. Despite constant media campaigns portraying waves of crime out of control, this is simply not true. But it does sell newspapers and TV advertising. For example, in the United Kingdom an adult can expect to experience a robbery once every five centuries, a burglary every 40 years, an injurious assault once every century and the family car stolen once every 50 years.
Locking people into prisons for longer and longer periods is a social disease that is taking the world by storm. In twenty years, numbers have trebled in US prisons and have quadrupled in New Zealand and show little sign of abating. Despite media hype to the contrary, crime rates have not risen at anything like that rate. The harsh conditions in many of these prisons are intolerable. At the end of the day political decisions and economic clout have won out over common sense and the well-being of the community. But that doesnÕt make it right.
Locking people into prisons for longer and longer periods is a social disease that is taking the world by storm.
A criminal justice system built primarily on a philosophy of vengeance and punishment is in biblical terms, sinful. It has two major components, the court system and prisons. An adversarial court system that seeks not fairness and justice as its primary aim but to convict or acquit regardless of the truth, has very limited use. It is wide open to abuse by both prosecution and defence.
As for the notion of locking grown adults into a 6m x 4m cell for up to 22 hours a day for months or even years on end, this should be abhorrent to any thinking person. Only the twisted could regard such a procedure as acceptable. Or those with a vested interest. The penal system stands condemned by its own violence and unfairness. Indeed by its own inhumanity.
The corrections industrial complex basically has a life of its own. Like its cousin the military industrial complex, its pernicious spirit is all pervasive and needs plenty of ÔcrimeÕ and long sentences to maintain its financial viability. Stun belts are only the latest weapon in its armour.
Who are we?
Members of Te Wairua Maranga Trust, which publishes this paper, have since 1990 been operating as a community following a Catholic Worker spirituality. We view the Treaty of Waitangi as our nationÕs founding covenant. We try, however inadequately at times, to live the Sermon on the Mount and its modern implications. We operate three houses of hospitality in Christchurch, named after Suzanne Aubert, Joseph Cardijn and Thomas Merton. We offer hospitality to people in need either on a temporary or more permanent basis. We have a continuing outreach to a number of families offering friendship and support. We usually receive back more than we ever give. We promote non-violence and a Ôsmall is beautifulÕ approach to life, practise co-operative work and peace making, focus on issues of justice, support prison ministry, help create intentional communities, and try to practice voluntary poverty and personalism. We also engage in regular prayer and generally struggle along like everybody else. Community members include Graeme White, Sharon Grant, Greg Jones, Francis Simmonds, Jim Consedine, Lynette McLenaghan, Barbara Corcoran, and Sue McNabb.
We celebrate a Eucharist every Wednesday at 6:00 pm at the Suzanne Aubert house, 8A Cotterill St, Addington, (off Poulson St, near Church Square), followed by a shared meal. Anyone is welcome - phone Lynnette or Graeme at 338-7105 or Francis, 338-0768.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to our work, which includes
the production of this paper, may join our list of Catholic Worker supporters.
Donations may be made to Te Wairua Maranga Trust,
Box 33-135, Christchurch.
What then is the Christian response to these issues? The key to understanding crime in the ancient Jewish scriptures is rooted in the concept of shalom. Shalom means peace combined with right relationships, and only exists when people live together in harmony and justice. Despite the inevitably misquoted Ôan eye for an eyeÕ concept, crime is seen in relational terms. It represents a rupture, a wound, in the health of the community that must be healed. Thus in the scriptures the focus is on healing wounds, on re-establishing right relationships. Although the concept of retribution can be present, the primary focus is on repair and restitution.
In the New Testament Jesus opens his mission with a quote from Isaiah. ÔThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and give new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the LordÕs year of mercy.Õ
Jesus is exceedingly cautious about the business of blame fixing, emphasising instead a non-judgmental attitude. We are not to talk about ÔthemÕ and ÔusÕ. Offenders are not categorically different from the rest of us. We are in fact all offenders. In the cast of the woman who has committed adultery, Jesus suggests the person without guilt should cast the first stone (Jn 8). He urges us not to judge lest we be judged accordingly (Lk 6/37). He cautions us to be careful about looking for defects in othersÕ lives when we have so many in our own Lk (6/41).
The message of penal policy today is one of violence, harshness and despair. The message of Jesus is one of hope. He proclaims the presence of a liberating spirit in the midst of the people. This spirit would give people a new understanding of life and its potential. In particular, Jesus geared this message towards the dispossessed, the marginalised, the poor, the sick, and those held captive in prison.
Jesus is exceedingly cautious about the business of blame fixing, emphasising instead a non-judgmental attitude. We are not to talk about ÔthemÕ and ÔusÕ. Offenders are not categorically different from the rest of us.
The thrust throughout ChristÕs teaching is on unconditional love, forgiveness and reconciliation. He recognises that we will be offended by others, but urges us to love those who offend us, to welcome them back, to reconcile them to the community, to forgive and to restore. He urges us to move beyond retaliation and suggests that love, not coercion, is the way to encourage change.
It is a message that generally speaking has fallen on deaf ears and lost its currency in our time. And no more so than in the so-called Christian nations of the west. Here the criminal justice system is often harsh and punitive, holding out little hope. More and more private enterprise seeking handsome profits is calling the tune. We continue to build an ever expanding global complex of prisons, where we warehouse the anti-social poor.
This special issue of The Common Good looks at the criminal justice system and this massive escalation of imprisonment and asks the question - is it any longer possible to be Christian and support these harsh and vindictive institutions? Are our court processes the best option available? Given its incredible failure rate, should punishment be the primary focus of criminal justice structures, or should healing, forgiveness, mercy and reparation have a major place? Are we wasting millions of tax dollars on a self defeating system which at the end of the day hits minorities unfairly, dehumanises those caught up in its pernicious web, and simply guarantees more crime?
In particular, can we still hold to imprisonment as a God-sanctioned way of dealing with criminal offenders? Given the enormous amount of data available which show imprisonment to be an almost universally damaging experience, and reflecting on the harshness of prison life for inmates and their families, the conclusion is clear that imprisonment is incompatible with GodÕs will for the human family. The Ôdangerous fewÕ (or few hundred) of course have to be kept in safe humane containment, and treated with dignity. But community based options and restorative processes offer the vast majority of the remainder a more human way forward. And thus a more Godly way.
It took Christians a long time to wake up to the fact that slavery was incompatible with the Christian gospel. Initially, there were too many vested interests to overcome. Eventually slavery was abolished when the human dignity of those enslaved was recognised. We support the concept of penal abolition. Indeed we argue it is the Christian option. We believe though that penal abolition has the same obstacles to overcome that maintained slavery - prejudice and powerful vested interests. However once the humanity of all who are trapped in the penal justice web is recognised, including victims and offenders, then abolition becomes an imperative for those who seek true justice.
Restorative justice processes, which seek personal accountability and create opportunities for better human interaction, for the healing of wounds especially those of victims, in most instances offers more positive options for dealing with criminal offending.
No one believes prisons can be abolished overnight. Regardless of anything else, vested interests would see to that. What is realistic is the dream to greatly reduce imprisonment numbers so that eventually only the Ôdangerous fewÕ remain incarcerated in humane surroundings.
The abolition of prisons and its underpinning vengeful penal philosophy is entirely compatible with the teachings of Jesus and the tradition of the prophets. Lest anyone consider it not possible, the Empty Tomb of Easter reminds us that even the might of empire is conquered by the power of the Risen Christ. The contents of one small newspaper cannot possibly give a full overview of all the evidence or arguments in favour of such a position. But this edition does highlight some of insights of prophetic people like Ruth Morris, Thomas Mathieson and Pita Sharples who challenge us to think beyond the present destructive penal policies to the more creative future envisaged by the teachings of Christ.