I don’t think most people understand how truly awful incarceration is. I think because the law so cavalierly assigns years of imprisonment, even for relatively minor crimes, that we trivialize the experience. Having your freedom forcibly removed, being locked up with extremely limited choices (no option to choose your own restaurant or go to a bar or art gallery or wherever) is no small matter.
Even a few months of this is extremely disruptive – you will likely lose your job, your apartment (or house) and possibly some friends and family in the “real” world while being caged in with a bunch of other “same-sex” unhappy prisoners (and not always nice prison guards). Even one year in prison is a very significant punishment, if you look at it from the point of view of the person actually experiencing it (just imagine yourself in it – no privacy, no family, surrounded by concrete walls, steel bars, precious little comfort to be had, etc.).
If we got our priorities straight (with an iota of compassion) and chopped all the knots off the legal system, I think crime could be classified and punished in a much simpler way – where the punishment would actually fit the crime and where many fewer people would ever need to be incarcerated for years at a time.
General Classifications (and Sub-classifications) of Crime:
- Crimes against Physical Safety – actions/inactions that cause significant harm to the physical well-being of others or lead others to reasonably believe their safety is in significant danger
a) Grievous Violence – deliberate or careless action that directly causes grievous injury, mental or physical (examples: stabbing with a knife, running over with a car, rape, “extreme” physical torture that involves maiming)
b) Withholding – deliberate or careless withholding of action or forcible restraint/containment of another that directly causes harm (examples: kidnapping someone, allowing a dependent [such as a child] to go without food for a week, gross negligence of such kind that will likely result in maiming or death, psychological torture such as sleep deprivation, providing physically dangerous misinformation)
c) Assault – deliberate action that directly causes observable harm but does not involve grievous injury (examples: beating someone with fists resulting in bruising and/or bloody nose, water-boarding or other “moderate” physical torture)
d) Threat – although no physical harm has (yet) been done, a person (or institution) clearly indicates intent to perpetrate physical harm that any reasonable person would believe (example: aggressively aiming/brandishing a weapon at someone)
e) Harassment – although no physical harm has (yet) been done, a person (or institution) has paid an excessive amount of unwelcome attention to someone after having been notified that such attention is unwelcome, and such attention could lead any reasonable person to concerns of physical safety (example: stalking someone, psychological torture of non-deprivation kind such as aggressive interrogation)
Exceptions: in a few scenarios, it is unavoidable to cause harm – in the cases of self-defense, legitimately unavoidable accidents and of course in the instance of stopping a specific crime. - Crimes against Property – actions/inactions that cause significant diminishing of or damage to the worldly possessions of others
a) Theft – unauthorized acquisition or use of property, financial or otherwise, via breaking & entering, deception, intimidation or other (examples: robbing a department store , occupying someone’s house without permission, fraud)
b) Destruction – deliberate or careless action/inaction that causes significant damage and/or loss of value to property (examples: breaking mailboxes with baseball bats, a professional “gardener” overwaters plants and kills them all, a mechanic crashes car while moving it)
c) Intellectual Thievery – unauthorized copying and distribution of a complex intellectual product that is financially damaging to the originator/owner of said product (examples: selling illegitimate copies of movies, music, books, source code, etc.)
Exceptions: in some cases, unavoidable accidents may cause damage to property in which case it may not be a “crime” per se and could be handled differently. - Crimes against Society – actions/inactions that cause significant damage to the social fabric
a) Public Lies – misinformation provided publicly with the purpose or unintended consequence of causeing significant injury to others or to cover up crimes (examples: perjury, slander, libel, yelling “Fire” in a movie theater when there is no fire)
b) Grievous Pollution – deliberate or careless action/inaction that causes significant environmental damage with demonstrable negative effect on the neighboring community and/or general public (examples: a factory that dumps concentrated waste products into a nearby river or into the air)
c) Social Disruption – deliberate or careless action/inaction that causes significant disruption and potential mental anguish to any social gathering or to bystanders/neighbors (examples: randomly screaming during a quiet public service, passing out drunkenly in the middle of the street, or any other public behavior deemed inappropriate by the majority of people) - Crimes against Self – actions/inactions that cause significant harm to one’s own well-being
a) Chemical Abuse – significant and repetitive abuse of chemicals (such as hormones or intoxicants) has led to swift erosion of physical or mental health (examples: steroid abuse, heroin abuse)
b) Self-Violence – deliberate and significant violence against one’s physical self with intent to seriously damage or kill (examples: attempted suicide, ingesting a toxic substance, deliberately burning oneself)
Many people have different definitions of rights, but regardless of what your concept of rights is, the right to physical safety is a fundamental right, because without that right, you cannot reasonably enjoy any other rights (not if you’re dead, obviously, but likewise if you must fear for your life, safety or freedom). Therefore, Crimes against Physical Safety are fundamental crimes. All other crimes are significantly lesser crimes.
I believe that by stitching in so many exceptions and lack of support for victims, our current system has made precious little headway in gaining true physical safety for all citizens. The primary problem is that government agents are empowered to infringe on the physical safety of citizens (and even more so for non-citizens) with impunity and for often frivolous reasons (including that they don’t like the way you look). In the exceedingly rare instances when government officials are prosecuted and convicted for extreme case of such a violation (e.g., “accidental” death of a non-criminal), they are seldom punished with more than a loss of job (nothing remotely similar to the punishment a regular citizen would receive).
I absolutely believe that government agents need to be empowered to enforce the laws, but they never should be exempt from such laws. It seems obvious to me that if a crime is not actively in progress, there is never justification to engage in violence or harassment of citizens. If there is credible evidence of a past crime or a crime being planned, of course they must investigate, but such evidence should be truly credible before infringing on anyone’s physical safety.
As far as punishment goes, I see no point in non-rehabilitative punishment. If you’re not going attempt to correct the problem, what is the point of punishing them in any way that allows their re-entrance into society (and resumption of criminal behavior)? There are only two non-rehabilitative punishments that make any sense: death or permanent exile (both of which are extremely harsh, at least for most crimes). Otherwise, we need to work with a rehabilitative system. And I think rehabilitation and punishment should both be matched to the specifics of the (class of) crime; a one-size-fits-all punishment cannot possibly rehabilitate all types of criminals.
Punishment of Crimes:
- Crimes against Physical Safety – these comprise the most egregious crimes which cause the most widespread harm to our society and therefore merit the harshest punishments. Anyone who will compromise the physical safety of fellow citizens for their own pleasure or convenience is effectively stating that they don’t believe physical safety is important and thus a just punishment would be to have their own physical safety compromised. Those who commit such crimes and prove immune to rehabilitation efforts (especially multiple-repeat offenders) would be subject to permanent exile (in the form of lifetime imprisonment or other). All of these crimes would be subject to removal from society (imprisonment) for some duration and rehabilitative counseling, although the latter 3 (Assault, Threat & Harassment ) are lesser and should (for first offense) be short prison and/or community service sentences with longer-term “outpatient” therapy/guidance as needed. For the two most severe items (Grievous Violence & Withholding), they would be subject to simulation or reduced versions of their crimes (non-violent, of course) for both punitive and therapeutic purposes (to make them understand the effects of their actions) and longer imprisonment. Lengthy sentences might be reduced by subjecting themselves to discomforts and health risks as may be beneficial to society (i.e., medical studies/testing, although nothing of course that would constitute “torture”), thus “paying dues” to society. When the course of punishment has been meted out and rehabilitation achieved, they could resume life as citizens (with additional counseling/guidance as deemed necessary), but in a location sufficiently far from the victims or relatives of the deceased so as to avoid likely encounters. Repeat offenders may lose citizenship rights and be subject to longer, more intense punishment and rehabilitation.
- Crimes against Property – these comprise crimes which can cause significant damage to the livelihood and well-being of individuals, which is why part of the punishment should be at least a partial replacement of property/revenue to the victim of such crimes at the expense of the perpetrator. Additionally, the criminal should be punished by a diminishment of his/her own personal property (a reduced version of their own crime or alternative version). Therapy would include community service in the realm of property protection or property gain for others [such as building housing]. Although these crimes are significant, they are material and non-violent (unless of course combined with a violent crime in which case, they’d be punished for both) and should be punished likewise, via their own property (present and future). Multiple-repeat offenders would be subject to the most significant punishment – an inability to own any non-trivial property (such as a car or house; small items of property such as food and inexpensive clothing should always be allowed) and fines (in the form of debt which can be directly deducted from paychecks or possessions) as appropriate. Caretakers who steal, destroy or abuse their duties would be subject to forced career changes (where they would be unable to assume additional caretaker positions unless fully rehabilitated).
- Crimes against Society – these comprise crimes against the public good (and sometimes individuals) & the only fitting punishments for this sort of crime are reputational tarnishing and community service. Reparation or apologies should be paid to the victims. The offendor may be publicly denounced or ridiculed, depending on the severity of the crime, and made to help in building community, wherever appropriate (preferably in some way relevant to their crime, where possible). There is no cause for loss of physical safety, however, the most egregious offendors may be subject to fines similar to those who commit crimes against property and/or removal of certain benefits of citizenship.
- Punishment for Crimes against Self – these are not truly crimes as the victim and the perpetrator are the same being, but for such “crimes”, the criminal should be enrolled in therapy and/or found a social welfare program, job or other productive activity.
Notes: A. This is not intended to be comprehensive, but to give a simplified baseline for how most criminal activities might be categorized and punished if we had a logical and understandable system of laws. B. Only “moral agents” are capable of commiting crimes (moral agents are those of physical and mental soundness who are capable of entering into moral contracts and acting on them). A small child discharging a gun is not committing a crime – a small child is merely a “moral patient,” not yet able to enter into mature moral contracts. C. The prison-industrial complex currently reaps profits from increased incarceration – that is no way to effect criminal injustice, which should be purely punitive/rehabilitive, with zero incentive for power-holders to keep offenders in prison any longer than possible.
