Days of Justice

 NOTE: Originally published 5/6/22

142 days. [09/26/2022]

726 days. [05/02/2024]

1395 days. [03/02/2026]

5419 days. [03/08/2037]

Days. What happens in a day? Can the mere passage of time tip the scales closer to justice?

What will happen in the next 142 days? At the end of that time, Joseph Irwin will be released from prison. What will he have learned? I have little doubt that he will have learned to be shrewder in his dealings, so next time he won’t have to pay for his crimes. What has his mind concocted during his time behind bars? Has he been introspective, recognizing that he fully embraced all aspects of the privilege into which he was born to dominate, brutalize, and even kill? Or will the evil in him have had a chance to develop more, to mature into an all-consuming cancer ready to absorb more victims?

I do not feel safer knowing that Joseph will have spent nearly 7 years incarcerated. I have zero confidence that any transformative justice will come about as a result of his sentence. Justice means correction of harm done. Justice is support for the ones who caused the harm and healing for the ones who suffered harm. What are victims supposed to do when the one who harmed them is released from prison? I cannot move out of state, and neither can he. All I can do is hope that the county where he serves his parole is far away from my family and me. But even that offers only the faintest charade of safety. Debi is allowed to go to North Carolina for 2 weeks at a time. I’m pretty sure Joe will go wherever the hell he wants.

But that next number – the 726, that’s the number of days till Dad is released. Just under 2 years now. 2 years. He was sentenced to 10, with a mandatory time of 8 ¾ years, with 2 left. Will those 2 more years make society safer? Will he be able to fully pay his debt to society in 2 more years? What good is he accomplishing behind bars? How is he being guided to repair the harm he caused? It’s all futile. He was never a risk to society in the first place. Keeping him locked up only perpetuates the harm by keeping him from fully engaging with his loved ones – especially his grandchildren.

Vengeful, punitive “justice” is not justice at all. It only multiplies the harm being done. Damn it all to hell. I think often of the situation at Remington Arms, the Ilion factory being local to me. Absolutely, the deaths at the Sandy Hook elementary school were a horrific tragedy. Blaming the gunmaker for the actions of an individual was reactionary. And it perpetuated the harm. With Remington’s bankruptcy, so many workers ended up not only out of a job, but out of a career that had earned them retirement benefits. Now their families are grieving loss as well. When society decides a punishment is just, there seems to be little to no thought about ramifications down the line.

Or consider the indefensible tragedy of 9/11. The death and destruction of that one day rippled out across the globe – first responders killed by illness; soldiers & civilians killed by war. And what has it all accomplished, really? We have got to get a grip on the definition of justice. It is not revenge. It is not punishment. https://peacefultomorrows.org/ Justice is support, correction, healing. It is possible that some offenders, some who cause harm, may never not pose a risk to society. But every human deserves to be seen and supported so that the cycle of trauma- and harm-causing behaviors can be broken.

If I could believe that the time Joe, Tiffanie, and Sarah are spending incarcerated will actually result in their becoming whole and healed themselves, I would not have any problem if they were released today. But I know that is not the case. Just like I know another 2 years behind bars for my father only steals those years of his life away from those who love him, another 4 months for Joe or 4 years for Tiffanie, or 14 years for Sarah are not going to make them any safer for society.