you have fully paid your debt to society. In several Southern states, disenfranchisement of African-American men is higher now than at any time since the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. There are additional aspects that underscore the problem with the American style justice system. But we should start by talking about what we can, and should do to begin fixing this broken, immoral, and in some cases unlawful criminal justice system. 1. Get rid of mandatory minimum sentencing. Let judges judge what is best for the individual as well as for society after hearing all the evidence. Sentencing guidelines can be useful but mandatory sentences eliminate the scales of justice in favor of just locking more folks up. Diversion could better serve their situation (e.g. drug addiction), and the cost to the individual and to society is far greater by incarcerating. At a minimum we must get rid of “three strikes” types of laws in the 28 states and the Federal government where they still exist. There is some movement on this in California lately, but we have a far way to go. 2. Invest in schools, teachers, libraries, community development programs, mental health and wellness in distressed communities (give social support BEFORE incarcerating) and thereby end the school-to-prison pipeline! This use of civilian resources as an alternative to policing is what folks mean when they talk about “defunding” police. It isn’t that anyone wants to eliminate police, but we do need to begin using better trained, less confrontational, and less violent means to help create community safety. The police should not be expected to do everything when so many current police functions could be handled more humanely and far more inexpensively than heavily armed police. The linkage between education, or a lack thereof, and incarceration is powerful. Instead of incarceration, which diminishes economic prospects, public investments in employment assistance, education and vocational training, and financial assistance would help mediate the conditions that lead marginalized individuals to police contact in the first place. This is just a smart investment decision. According to the US Department of Education: “If our states and localities took just half the people convicted of nonviolent crimes and found paths for them other than incarceration, they would save upwards of $15 billion a year.” 3. We must redefine drug addiction and drug use: not as a criminal offence, but as a public/mental health issue, better treated with counselling, addiction treatment, out-patient, and harm reduction programs. 4. We have to restore voting rights to those who are done serving their time. We need to start treating former felons as former and fully restore their civil rights so they can be fully reintegrated into society. Even individuals charged with misdemeanors or violations often end up incarcerated, creating disastrous long-term consequences for the individual and society at large. Rather than investing in public health and community-driven safety initiatives, cities and counties are still pouring vast amounts of public resources into the processing and punishment of these minor offences. The societal cost of this approach is insanely expensive. It’s time to reform our approach not only to policing, but to the entire spectrum of criminal justice. It is time to reduce our society’s use of incarceration, reimagine justice and create a more productive society. This how we can enjoy Truth, Justice, and the American Way. However we approach it, we must bring sanity to the criminal justice system that is destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and bankrupting the rest of us to pay for the broken distortion of what passes for criminal justice today. •MJ DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION 50 + YEARS EXPERIENCE - LOCAL 35+ YEARS
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Bob Hazard Mr. Hazard is an Associate Editor of this paper and a former president of Birnam Wood Golf Club.
Divided America The Importance of National Unity
T
he glue binding America is coming undone. Every aspect of life is becoming strained by growing divisiveness. Which media do we trust? Who is worthy of federal aid? How can we ever put this country back together as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”? Trust in our political leadership has crumbled. Leaders at all levels are held up for ridicule – the president, Congress, governors, urban mayors, corporate CEOs, union bosses, and even police chiefs – all have approval ratings that have reached all-time lows.
Character Counts
During his lifetime, painter Norman Rockwell turned out 323 covers for the Saturday Evening Post depicting the most decent qualities in our national character through the eyes of the ordinary working stiff. In defense of civic virtue and American exceptionalism, none stood greater than his depiction of the Four Freedoms. He focused first on freedom of speech, characterized as a plain man in workmen’s clothes, hands hard and calloused, calmly having his say at a New England town meeting, while his neighbors, each of whose expressions Rockwell captures with marvelous exquisite detail, listen to him respectfully. Similar covers depicted his version of freedom of worship; freedom from fear; and freedom from want, as seen through the eyes of the common man. Today, Norman Rockwell’s portrayals would be derided as corny and trite, and perhaps even racist.
Partisan Gridlock
Are we losing the America that once earned our praise? Are we permanently divided between “red” and “blue”; rich and poor; Black, White, Brown, Red, or Yellow? How far have we fallen since our 44th president Barack Obama pledged back in 2008 that “America is a place where all things are possible”? Soon, this country will choose either Joe Biden or Donald Trump as our 45th or 46th President of the United States. Whatever the outcome, nearly half the country will feel cheated. The greater risk is hatred and rage. As President Abraham Lincoln warned us, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
A Frightening Trend
Has America become too racist, too smug, and both too poor and too rich? Are we united in common values, that includes belief in equality under the law, basic respect for public order and the right to peaceful public protest? Do we collectively believe in the dignity of every single man, woman and child, and the need for accountability when it comes to our government? I believe citizens undervalue the unity effort it takes to keep a nation glued together. E. Pluribus Unum – from many, one – looks quite different when the emphasis is shifted from Unum (one nation) to Pluribus (many groups) each competing for the power to correct past grievances. Big corporations and wealthy donors have pumped more than $400 million into lobbying organizations like “Black Lives Matter” to demonstrate their sensitivity and social concern for the less privileged. Some of these dollars have been funneled to agitators, whose goals are to set up cop free zones in major cities, rewrite the history of America and tear down all statues and monuments that they find offensive. Arson, looting of private property, burning of churches, spitting on police, throwing Molotov cocktails, inciting violence – that is anarchy, not peaceful protest. There has also been a meltdown in free speech allowed on college campuses, in the nation’s newsrooms and in the social marketplace of ideas. Conservative messages are discouraged, if not quite prohibited. Accusations like “racist” and “xenophobic” are purposely used to generate fear, stop discussion, and paralyze debate. That same technique of using the word “heretic” by those in power, paralyzed discourse and debate in the 16th century.
How Do We Start to Rebuild Unity?
We seem to have lost the ability to sit down together, listen, disagree without being disagreeable and fashion solutions built on common themes, not differences. There are a number of issues that are overwhelmingly supported by Americans of different races, colors and creeds. Collectively, they form a good basis to begin: Nearly 100% of Americans condemn the brutal killing of George Floyd
HAZARD Page 234
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
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