Our Justice System, the Way it Doesn't Work: What Happens when We Develop the Attitude of "Lock 'em Up and Throw Away the Key?" Does This Really Work or Does Our Justice System Fail Us and Broaden Our Societal Problems?

Donald is 56 years old and living below the poverty level. As a black man, Donald has worked hard all his life, both physically and to prove his worth. Donald's prison experience has haunted him all his life and it appears it always will. For a mistake made many years ago while he was a juvenile, it has deterred him from committing more crimes, rehabilitated him and kept him from falling back into the abysmal environment of the streets and restored his faith in himself, while paying retribution to society. However, it seems to continue blocking the light at the end of the tunnel for him. No matter how hard he tries, he still has to face the consequences of his crime no matter how much he has tried because of his race and the penalties it brings with it.

When Donald was 16 years old, living in the heart of North Philadelphia, he did what most teenagers in his neighborhood did. They "gangbanged". Gangbanging consisted of groups of teens, bonded together by an association in a neighborhood gang. Gangbanging could consist of just hanging out on the corner, or getting into whatever trouble they could. Most times it was the latter.

On a hot summer night, Donald and his "boys" were at a corner store at 23^rd & Diamond. Donald left the group and started to head home. As he turned the corner, he saw a man who was extremely drunk and falling down. For some stupid reason, Donald turned around and went back to his "boys". He went in the store and told them that a guy was around the corner who was really drunk. Trying to be the big man with the big ideas, Donald suggested they rob him because of his inability to react. The "boys" agreed and set out to rob him. However, Iceman, had other plans. Iceman was the oldest of the gang. Not wanting Donald to get all the credit for the easy take, he decided to go one step further. As they approached the drunken man, Donald stood on the corner as the lookout while the others knocked him down and stole his wallet. Wanting to be the hero, Iceman took out a switchblade and stabbed the man in the heart. A few hours later he died.

The gang took off running, and made a vow not to "dime" each other out. The police came and investigated. They determined that the "23^rd & Diamond" gang was responsible for this horrible action. All of the gang members were picked up and questioned. True to the code of the street, none talked or dimed each other out. Except Iceman, the actual killer. He fingered everyone who was in the group, including the lookout, Donald. Donald was arrested and charged with conspiracy and homicide. He was charged as an adult and sent to Prison. When Donald was 22 year old, he was released from prison. He had his whole life ahead of him and came out a changed man. His incapacitation enabled him to sort out the details of his life and make a determination to prove himself in the world. His incarceration helped keep him away from the streets and enabled him to think clearly and not "for the gang". Donald was thankful for his incarceration and still attributes his rehabilitation to isolating him from the streets of North Philadelphia.

Although his prison experience in an adult prison while he was a juvenile was traumatic, his roommates encouraged him to break loose from the gang, get released and make a good name for himself. That's where he actually experienced the side effects of being incarcerated and released on the streets without being properly rehabilitated.

Donald's rehabilitation deterred him from committing more crimes. Sadly, his rehabilitation did not include instilling the skills necessary to survive outside of prison which causes him to live in poverty every day. If Donald were given the opportunity to educate himself while he was incarcerated and able to participate in a program that would help him re-enter society, he very well may be living in better circumstances than he is now. His record haunts him every day he applies for a new job. Donald is a hard conscientious worker. However, no one is willing to give him a chance once they see he was involved in a homicide.

He currently works for McDonalds at $5.15 per hour. He also works part time for UPS at night. UPS took a chance on Donald only at the consistent urging of a supervisor, and a guarantee that he would be a good employee. Preventing prisoners from educating themselves does not improve society, it worsens it. Mumia Abu-Jamal phrased it correctly in the book, Are Prisons Obsolete? Written by Angela Y. Davis. What societal interest is served by prisoners who remain illiterate? What social benefit is there in ignorance? How are people corrected while imprisoned if their education is outlawed? Who profits (other than prison establishment itself) from stupid prisoners? (Are Prisons Obsolete?) The answer is quite simple. No one benefits. No one's interest is served. This lack of education only cripple society and the person who was incarcerated. It cripples society because the consequences a person such as Donald faces, mostly turn individuals back to the life of the streets where incarceration is again applied.

Economic conditions in North Philadelphia also attribute to the re-incarceration of individuals. Donald has been able to keep pulling away from the inevitable. However, many of his friends could not. Lack of jobs, gross inadequate wages force these individuals to look for other means that usually includes crime. Because of the economic base of these communities is destroyed, education and other surviving social services are profoundly affected. This process turns the men, women, and children who live in these damaged communities into perfect candidates for prison.

Donald is a strong determined man. At least for now he is, but how much longer can he hold out? How much longer can he live in poverty? How many other "Donald's" are there that can't hold on? They turn back to a life of crime that serves no purpose.

The correction to this problem leads to the underlying problem of stressful economic conditions. If these communities were strengthened, and economic conditions improved, we would have less crime. We would also have less crime if we abolished the prison system. Arthur Waskow quoted in the Are Prisons Obsolete book says it all. "Forget about reform; it's time to talk about abolishing jails and prisons in American society.

He also stresses that building society and making it stronger economically will put a significant dent in crime. A decent redistribution of power and income so as to put out the hidden fire of burning envy that now flames up in crimes of property-both burglary by the poor and embezzlement by the affluent. And a decent sense of community that can support, reintegrate and truly rehabilitate those who suddenly become filled with fury or despair, and that can face them not as objects - "criminals" but as people who have committed illegal acts, as have almost all of us."

Justice can be restored as well as communities if we make some changes. It couldn't get any worse than what it is now, so why not try it?