Incarceration: Experience Matters

During my time with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, I had the opportunity to go into both country jails and state prisons.  I do not use the word "opportunity" in any other way than then what exactly that word denotes.  I has fortunate to be able to get past the wire and the wall and double-locking doors to be on the "inside" -- if only for a short visit with a client.  My clients, by and large, had been incarcerated before and were unable to make bail prior to trial.  The notion that people are "held awaiting trial" is something of a misnomer:  Most cannot make the excessive bail; a few are held due to a determination of dangerousness.  To the jails and prisons I would go -- and, leave again through the double-locked doors and the wall and the wire -- back to my car and back to the office, or home. 

Each and every time I would depart from these places, I would feel eternally thankful that I was leaving.  Coupled with that, I felt deeply saddened that my client was there.

Back in court, the prosecutors would argue for jail time instead of supervised probation with conditions mandated to address the "why" of this person's appearance in the courtroom.  As defense counsel, I would -- with my client's permission -- endorse the latter approach to "punishment."

But I had something that I do not think the prosecutor or the judge had:  Experience.  I had been to the jails and prisons.  My advocacy was not driven singularly by the goal of "keep my client on the streets" but more so by the goal of "keep my client out of there."  The prosecutor in throwing about "nine months" instead of "six months" had truly no idea of the difference of three months.  In jail.  In prison.  Three months matters.  Three minutes matter.  The judge, likely having been a former prosecutor, also may have little appreciation for "doing time."

I do not suggest the closing of jails and prisons.  I do not suggest that those who have been cruel and violent to others be allowed to roam among us.  What I would suggest is that each and every judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney go to a jail and in a prison.

See how those who are incarcerated live, counting down the months, checking off the days, watching the clock, hoping for a visit.  Without the appreciation for what incarceration means, it seems unfair to advocate, defend, or meter out the punishment to that end.  

Comments?

What do you think?  Would having a real appreciation for "life on the inside" make a change in the way defendants are handled and processed through the system?  Comment below.