• MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    4 months ago

    We really need to develop a coherent set of positions on criminal justice at some point. It's an enormous, everyday issue, and there's this constant ping ponging between "we need to abolish prisons now" and "obviously this serious crime deserves prison time at minimum."

    It's of course not always the same people making the two comments, but as a group, leftists are all over the map.

      • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        4 months ago

        The issues with re-education are:

        1. If you're keeping someone in custody during it, it's prison, even if it's a nice prison.
        2. If you aren't keeping them in custody, and they don't show up, how do you get them to?
        3. Ordinary people commit heinous crimes, too, see this article.
        • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          There's plenty of little social and bureaucratic annoyances that can be levied on someone until they show up. Don't go to re-education? You're not allowed to buy liquor till you do, or you're suspended from hookup apps, or your money's no good at festivals and sports events. Non-carceral, non-fine penalties that are still enough of a social annoyance to be worth biting the bullet and taking care of.

    • Runcible [none/use name]
      ·
      4 months ago

      It is hard to thread the needle between recognizing "retributive justice" is generally just morally wrong and the idea that systemically you probably need some sort of negative consequences available to help shape societal behaviors

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]
      ·
      4 months ago

      Here’s my position

      • Using “self driving cars” = prison
      • texting while driving = prison
      • intoxicated while driving = prison
      • buying trucks and SUVs without the need = prison
      • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        4 months ago

        Prison abolition isn't "prison is bad," it's "prison should be abolished." Even in the most generous reading, it's "prison should be used as an absolute last resort," which means wildly different things to different people.

        All I'm saying is we should develop a coherent position on such a common issue.

        • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          4 months ago

          In the same way that it will take time to advance society to a moneyless classless one, I can imagine that full prison abolition would take societal structures to be developed before it is fully realized.