America’s Priorities need to Change

Yesterday was probably my last time going to Camden this semester.  Father Doyle had mentioned that volunteerism, (like we are doing) gives us a new perspective on the world.  It certainly challenges notions we might have once held about standard of living in America, poverty, and fellow human beings.  It is hard to measure how much you have grown in the course of 18 weeks, but helping to heal Camden has been an enlightening experience already.

  I never saw a connection between foreign military investment and the injustices in Camden.  I also never realized how American society is enabling a vicious cycle of poverty entrenchment.  White families leave Camden and then send their sewage and scraps of metal in return. 

I enjoyed preparing food for the Camden residents who came in from the cold to get a warm meal.  Hands were numb and noses were still running.  I was not able to stay to serve the food because I was fortunate enough to interview Father Michael Doyle.  I was so impressed with his knowledge and he spoke with such eloquence.  

Before Camden can truly be cured, the upper echelon of society needs to sacrifice its elitist mentality.  There needs to be more of an effort amongst the government to change policies.  Father Doyle could not understand why troops are still stationed in Korea and Germany when human beings need the aid in America. 

         I saw Michael Moore’s Sicko when it was in theaters over a year ago.  Moore showed how our nation’s health care system compared to other countries.  I recall one of the interviews with a doctor from Europe (I believe he was from England).  He said Americans must sacrifice their extravagant lifestyles before national health care is possible in the U.S. 

         I see so much truth in this statement.  Capitalism has become the catalyst for self-interest and greed.  Americans want all four of their cars and all three of their houses.  “I worked hard for my lifestyle and the government has no right to take these luxuries away,” some claim.  The U.S. is so fixated on being the most powerful nation, that fellow beings go overlooked.  The middle and upper class populations are educated at a young age to adopt a self-interested mentality. 

         Education is a medium that encourages competition and individualism.  Students are taught to worry about themselves and to a certain extent become opportunists.  Self-confidence is stressed in school systems and in households. Yet with so much emphasis placed on the self, compassion is lost. 

         I hope to challenge these fundamental teachings.  If more people form relationships in areas like Camden, and spend time in impoverished communities, it can be an awakening experience.  I implore Americans to change their priorities.  Patriotism needs to celebrate fellow men and women, not elitism.   

Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

With the responsibility of presenting the novel, Life on the Outside by Jennifer Gonnerman, to our FSP class last week, I went on the web in search of some supporting statistics and facts to help enhance our presentation. What I found literally made me sick. The numbers and specifics are just horrifying. For instance, today, approximately one in nine African American men between the ages of 20 and 34 is in prison. Baffling statistics like this prompted me to question our prison system.

The United States of America has the world’s highest rate of incarceration– one in four prisoners in the world is held here. Every year, upwards of 600,000 people are set free from prison- many with little education and skills, making it particularly difficult for them to obtain a job in hopes of creating a somewhat stable life. After prison, the released inmates struggle through many new problems. Depending on their state of residence, they may have a hard time obtaining a drivers license, a student loan, or even public housing. The plethora of hurdles one must overcome after being released from prison provides for a challenging struggle. As Elaine Bartlett put it, “I left one prison only to come home to another.” These struggles are partly the reason that forty percent of freed prisoners are back in prison within three years.

 

 

Elaine was unaware of the harsh drug laws in New York at the time she was arrested. The Rockefeller Drug Laws of New York established mandatory prison sentences for the unlawful possession and sale of controlled substances depending on the weight of the substance involved. Typically, this required judges to impose a sentence of 15-years to life for anyone convicted of selling two or four ounces of “narcotic drugs” (like cocaine or heroin). These laws took a dramatic toll on the life of Elaine Bartlett. They were the cause of her harsh 20 to life sentence. “In the years since the Rockefeller drug laws went into effect, the population in New York’s state prisons had soared from 12,500 to nearly 70,000.… Of New York’s 70,000 inmates, 21,000 were serving for a drug crime. Ninety-four percent of the state’s drug prisoners were African-American or Latino (139).”

Jennifer Gonnerman’s Life on the Outside is an exceptionally written novel that provides an in-depth look into the trial, arrest, and life of Elaine Bartlett. I had no prior knowledge of the Rockefeller Drug Laws before diving into this book, but I’m very glad I was able to learn about them. After sixteen years in prison, Elaine faced many struggles that helped her become the woman she is today. She continued to attend drug rallies and protests in order to help all the other people who were imprisoned unfairly. We need more people in this world like Elaine Bartlett, who even after challenges and hurdles, continue to fight for their beliefs and make a difference.

 

drugs

          I don’t think that drugs, with the exception of marijuana, should be legalized.  If they were available legally, they would be much more accessible to kids who don’t completely understand the life changing negative affects using hard drugs could be.  They could put an age limit, but lets be honest, underage drinking exists, why should it be any different with drugs?  If people have an impulsive, stupid moment, they could ruin their lives and get addicted or overdose on a hard drug… easily and legally.  Drugs are different than alcohol… a few usages of hard drugs can lead to life long addictions and legalizing drugs will probably lead to more people trying it and therefore using it on a regular basis.

          However, I don’t think that jailing drug users will stop the drug problem in our country.  I think that jail should be used only to keep people who are going to hurt others or society away from other people.  There really is no need to jail a drug user, especially for a long period of time, and it really only make the situation worse instead of fixing it like it’s supposed to.  The people sent to jail because they are using drugs are getting their lives ripped away from them for doing something that honestly mostly hurt themselves.  I’m not saying to make drugs legal or that there shouldn’t be consequences for using them, but I don’t think that these people need to be locked up away from society for years at a time. 

          When people are put into jail for using drugs, they are not given the necessary means to get themselves out of the situation that started them on drugs and eventually put them into jail in the first place and they often times end up right back in jail after their sentence is over.  I’m not saying that we should spend additional heaps of money on these people, I’m questioning whether we need to spend the money we’re already spending on jailing them in the first place.  Putting them in jail doesn’t seem to fix the problem and so I propose that we come up with a different method of punishment which might be not as harsh and life-ruining to them and which also might better solve the problem.  I don’t know exactly what this might be, maybe a form of re-hab or community service…. I’m not an expert.  But I do think we could and should definitely do something less harsh and more effective.

Dead Man Walking

Sister Helen loved Sean. The sick, brutal, awful murderer and rapist of teenage children… she loved him.  She wanted him behind bars, she wanted him to feel sorrow for his horrendous crimes… she wanted him punished, but she loved him.  It was a strange thing to witness.  Sister Helen knew what Sean had done and she hurt with the people whom he had hurt, she knew he was an awful man, BUT SHE LOVED HIM.  Why? How? How could she possibly fight to save the life of a murderer?  How could she listen to the stories of the parents of those murdered children and go back and talk to their murderer and try to get him into Heaven?  How could she?  Why would she?

Maybe it was because she saw something in Sean. Not something good, but something human.  Maybe that’s exactly what she saw… his humanity.  She knew that Sean was a man, a human being, a horrible one, but none the less a human being.  And as such, he had the right to live.  Sister Helen knew what each of us, as human beings, know.  What Sean even, sick, twisted human being though he was, knew.  It is wrong, hateful and wrong, to take the life of another person.  It’s the most innate and fundamental evil of mankind.  We hate murders, call them sick, know that there is something twisted and unnatural about them… something inhuman.   And yet, we kill them and call it just.

Nothing is solved by their deaths… the lost loved ones will not return and the pain of those left behind will not leave.  Nothing is solved but that the murders are given the same sentence that they gave their innocent victims the night they murdered them… and that we have the same crime on our hands that we hate them so brutally for.  Sure, they are guilty and awful people, but they are people none the less.  And, we, like them, do not have the right to take the lives of our fellow human beings.  And they, like their victims, have the right to live.  Not to live freely, not to live happily, but as human beings, to live.

 

 

legalizing drugs

Last night’s class discussion went into a direction I did not expect. I have never really thought about the legalization of marijuana and harder drugs because I don’t think our government will do it in our life time. I can understand why our government cannot condone mind altering substances because it would cast a “bad shadow” on our country’s reputation as being drug friendly. Yet, the benefits of legalization could outweigh the cons.

I do not believe that the legalization of these drugs will lead to mass usage. Just like with alcohol, just because there is availability does not mean there will be an increase in alcoholism. In fact it declined (?) after prohibition ended and alcohol was legalized again. I think that with the prevalence of these drugs, there will be a desensitizing of the masses. Because these drugs are taboo,

Additionally, if they were legalized they could be taxed (which would help the economy- as cigarettes and alcohol does). Drug trafficking can also be monitored and addictions can be treated head on. Many drug addicts do not have the means to get help, with such national attention on the subject and an open environment for rehabilitation, drug addiction rates would decrease. By ending this drug dependency cycle, we would be “producing” more well rounded, sober citizens. Additionally, this would solve the overload of prisoners, who entered due to drug addiction, in jails.

Finally, if these drugs were legalized, medical experts could help with dosing. Many drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, were first formed with the intention for medical usages. However, because many people began self medicating, drug addictions became more prevalent. However, this theory that addictions will increase can be applied to everything. Gluttony leads to many health issues (EG: overuse of alcohol and anti-depressants, sniffing of glues and polishes and overeating). Thus, monitoring of drug intake and educating the public about its uses can help stop the addiction cycle.

The Death Penalty & ‘Dead Man Walking’

            I have hesitated to formally write this particular blog post because of the sensitivity displayed during the movie last week. Dead Man Walking, a film based off of the book by Sister Helen Prejean, tells the story of a man condemned to death row. It’s an emotional movie and a touchy subject that took me several days to digest.

           Like roughly half of the population in the United States, I prefer life without parole over the death penalty as the best punishment for murder. This is partly due to my Religious affiliation. As a Roman Catholic, I firmly believe that no other human being has the power to take away another’s life. After watching Dead Man Walking, I was further disgusted by the overall thought of the death penalty. I find it not only immoral, but inhumane. How can you do this to another person? What I found even more sick was the viewing room in which family members of the victim came to watch the murderer die. I understand that he did a horrible, absolutely terrible thing, but is it necessary then for him to be put to death? Does it bring you any comfort when you consider how the death penalty affects the inmate’s family? 

            Not only is the death penalty immoral, but it is not even economically reasonable. A recent cost study showed that in Maryland, the cost of the death penalty cases is three times the cost of non-death penalty cases. This study also showed that in Kansas, the cost of death penalty cases is seventy percent more that the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case.

           In particular, Dead Man Walking displays the means of lethal injection. The inmate is paralyzed by certain drugs, and thus unable to show the excruciating pain he is enduring. Some executions done by lethal injection have been known to last upwards of twenty minutes. This is just not humane. Not even a prisoner deserves to die that way.

           Thankfully, more and more countries are taking measures to abolish the death penalty in law and practice. In fact, over two thirds of countries in the world (137) have taken these measures. I think life without parole is the more humane approach when dealing with people who have committed serious crimes. Arguably, I think that locking them up and letting them think about what they have done- every single day for the rest of their lives- is a harsher punishment and more suitable for the crime.

 

Forgiveness

I have always been against the death penalty not only because I think it is completely inhumane, but more so because I feel that criminals should have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives as opposed to simply being put to death and out of the misery of living in jail forever.

Watching Dead Man Walking in class completely changed my perspective about the death penalty, but not my position on them.  “An eye for an eye” is not something I would ever advocate; it doesn’t solve anything and will not change the past. However, I now have more of an understanding of those on death row; this movie definitely humanized these criminals. I used to think that they were just hardened monsters-that they had no feelings or regret. While some of these criminals may still be hardened, some of them are definitely reconsidering their actions and truly sorry. They would certainly give anything to be able to take back their actions, Matthew Poncelet being an example. He may have started regretting his actions only because he was going to die, but there may be other criminals out there who really are remorseful. I don’t sympathize with them at all and would never even think about tolerating their actions or freeing them, but killing them would just add to the vicious cycle. They, too, have families-families that played no role in their criminal activities, families that shouldn’t have to suffer a death.

No, these criminals should not be released, EVER, but they shouldn’t be killed because this really can’t accomplish anything. I think that living with this guilt, and being locked up for life, is punishment enough. It’s hard for me to understand how watching a perpetrator being put to death can bring peace to anyone, even if they were wronged, but this may be because I have never been in that situation. However, I think that revenge is an awful, consuming feeling, and should be satisfied by overcoming the anger and vengeance, not by watching a criminal die, as the families do in Dead Man Walking.

Watching this movie has made me a more understanding person, and definitely more forgiving. I can only hope that the movie has the same effect on those who are going through the situation, and they too, can gain peace through forgiveness.

Better to suffer

Today was the first time that I thought about the movie that we watched last Tuesday and was finally able to talk about it. My parents have always been for the death penalty, but I, however, have had opposing views. I did a lot of research for a school project once and have based my opinion on the information I found. As I said in class today, I feel that when you kill someone, you are relieving them of their sorrow and thoughts. I think a better method of punishment would be to have someone suffer in poor conditions till the last breath in their lungs. My mother says that some jails today are luxurious and that people are not treated poorly, but I still think that being confined in a small cell with only you is better “punishment.” The circumstance that bothers me most is the fact that we killed Saddam Hussein. I think that he should’ve been kept in ultimate confinement, fed crappy food, and died alone until his heart just stopped beating. Don’t get me wrong, I see where opponents come from with the “eye for an eye” mentality and that it deters crime because that person will never be set free to hurt someone else, but I just can’t seem to see the logic in it. Yes, my “way” is probably more inhumane, but I think justice is then served. To add to it, I also believe that no one can decide on when a person’s life should end besides God. With all of these beliefs added together, I can’t see myself switching views. I respect those people who believe something else—hey, I share a house with two of them —but I just wanted to restate my opinion and my reasons behind this belief.

On a Personal Note…

While we are all voicing our opinions on the death penalty in either blogs or comments, I’d like to back up my opposition to the death penalty with an anecdote from my life that I am dealing with now.  As many of you know, a close friend of mine was killed in a car accident.  He was killed by a drunk driver.  In California, the maximum sentence for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence is 10 years in a federal prison.  If the case is charged as a vehicular homicide, the sentence can range from 15 years in a federal prison, to life.  I know that Jay’s father will be pursing the maximum punishment for his son’s death.  If the man that hit Jay is tried for vehicular homicide, and found guilty, I personally would hope that he gets a life sentence.  I’m not sure if the death penalty is even available for such a case, but let’s suspend reality for a moment and say that it has come into play.

I personally, would not want Jay’s killer to receive a lethal injection.  I want him to understand what he has done.  I want him to feel remorse every day of his life.  I want him to feel the pain that he has caused a family and a network of friends.  Jay was loved, very loved, and so many people had a piece of their life ripped away from them.  I think the only way to get some sort of justice for Jay’s death is for his killer to understand the pain he caused.  Think what it’s like to take turns with family and friends, talking to a beautiful four year old when her mother and brother were taken away from her within the same week.  I talk the that cutie pie, because I care about her, and I loved her brother, and together we can help each other handle our pain.  It breaks my heart, that this is what has happened.  And I want Jay’s killer to know just how many hearts he’s broken.

So that’s where it’s at for me.  I’m hurting, and I want him to hurt.  And the death penalty just isn’t good enough for me.

I’m attaching a song that Jay did before the accident.  It was the last song he ever did.  He was an amazing musician and was going places.  … I miss my friend.

Reach by Jason Delsi

Life on the Outside Videos

www.lifeontheoutside.com

Hey Guys!

Go to this website, and click on “photos & videos”, then open up the “bookwrap”.

It contains several short videos of Elaine Bartlett, her children, and Jennifer Gonnerman’s book, Life on the Outside. It really helps to enhance the book, so I suggest that you take a look