North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty Anti-Empire >>
Promoting Human Rights in IrelandHuman Rights in Ireland >>
The ?Fair Trials for Grooming Gangs? Protests Are a Disgrace Wed Jul 09, 2025 07:00 | Laurie Wastell The 'fair trials for grooming gangs' protests are a disgrace, says Laurie Wastell. Ostensibly advocating impartial justice, protest members call "the Rochdale thing" a lie while the leader's brother is in jail for rape.
The post The ‘Fair Trials for Grooming Gangs’ Protests Are a Disgrace appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Wed Jul 09, 2025 00:59 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Junior Doctors?to Strike Until January 2026 to Demand 29% Pay Rise ? Despite Receiving 22% Last Year Tue Jul 08, 2025 19:00 | Will Jones Junior doctors?have voted to strike until January 2026 to demand a 29% pay rise, despite receiving a 22% rise last year, in a move that will see thousands of NHS appointments and operations cancelled.
The post Junior Doctors?to Strike Until January 2026 to Demand 29% Pay Rise ? Despite Receiving 22% Last Year appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lucy Connolly Case Brought to America?s Attention by Wall Street Journal Tue Jul 08, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones With Lucy Connolly now languishing in jail for over 330 days for a tweet, the Wall Street Journal has run an article highlighting her plight and the sorry state of free speech in the UK and Europe.
The post Lucy Connolly Case Brought to America’s Attention by Wall Street Journal appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Palestine Action Ban Was Right ? But It?s Opened a Pandora?s Box Tue Jul 08, 2025 15:00 | Anna Stanley The Government was right to proscribe Palestine Action ? but it's opened a Pandora's box, says Anna Stanley. With so many in the UK now emotionally invested in the Palestinian cause, can social breakdown be avoided?
The post The Palestine Action Ban Was Right ? But It’s Opened a Pandora’s Box appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Catholic Worker Reflects on U.S. Prison System & Abolition
international |
crime and justice |
other press
Friday October 29, 2010 09:51 by Catholic Worker

The U.S. System of Punishment: an expanding balloon of wealth, racism and greed
by Jenny Truax on October 28, 2010
(Jenny Truax has been a member of the Karen House Catholic Worker community in St. Louis for thirteen years)
A few years ago at a Karen House community meeting, Tony brought a reading for discussion. He had just finished the book “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Davis, and read some quotes, asking us to consider the question: are prisons, in fact, obsolete?
To be honest, I was shocked by the question. I considered the prison, while probably unjust, to be as ingrained an institution as churches, schools, and apple pie. I understood the Catholic Worker Aims and Means, but had never applied them to the U.S. system of punishment. As anarchists and pacifists, we in the Catholic Worker try to reflect on the root causes of violence, where resources are allocated, and how systems (like the prison system) affect the poor. We believe that a decentralized society might better serve people’s needs better. At Karen House, we see that the majority of the women who stay with us have either been in jail before, or have a family member who has been in jail. Many of their offenses were drug-related, and many of their lives have been uprooted by long incarcerations. At Karen House, we read in the papers about white-collar criminals (who may have stolen millions) and even peers receiving very light penalties, and we live with women who have received years-long sentences for drug and poverty/property related offenses.
Most of us have a general sense that laws in the U.S. overly-penalize people who happen to be poor, and who happen to not be white. But we also have a deeply-held belief that the system, though flawed, is basically just, and that wrong-doers deserve the punishment they receive. We like the neat package of “3 strikes you’re out” and automatic sentencing. In the words of Angela Davis: “Prison frees us from considering the complex problems of racism and poverty (and increasingly, global capitalism,) by creating an abstract place in which to put evil-doers.”1
Arrticle continued......
http://www.jesusradicals.com/the-u-s-system-of-punishme...reed/
|