I just got done reading the February, 2018, issue of Wired: it’s the speech issue about free speech in the age of today’s internet. An article by Virginia Heffernan, about a section of Reddit called “Change My View“, revolved around her personal view that serial sexual abusers should submit to castration. I’ve hyperlinked the Change My View subreddit because I think it’s a great concept: it’s a place you can post a specific view with the intent of giving others an opportunity to change that view through reasoned, civil debate and discourse. In my own life, I try to keep myself open to hearing opinions and viewpoints that aren’t in line with my own opinions and viewpoints in order that I don`t become so entrenched in my own beliefs that I`m closed off to hearing evidence that might disprove my own theories. That entrenchment would lead to mental atrophy and closing off of one’s self from opportunities for personal growth. That entrenchment would also lead to an inability to adequately defend one’s own position for any given belief.
Freedom of speech is an extremely important right to me. Not just because of my position in society as a prisoner with few other rights, but because it’s a fundamental right for every American, a bedrock of our democracy. Freedom of speech isn`t just about self-expression and the right to voice one’s opinions: it’s also about access to information and the right to hear other people’s opinions. So much of our ability to function in life and society is dependent upon freedom of speech, whatever form that speech may take. The internet has changed the meaning of speech, and the power dynamics for dissemination of information to the masses, since I’ve been in prison. Contemplating these changes makes me wonder why I write, what my purpose is in writing. To change the world for the better, for sure. But also to show my true self, as much as possible, in order to counteract all the negative things that have been written about me in the past. Also to inform and entertain while shining a light on the realities of life as a prisoner serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
The power the internet can give to one voice is astounding, but the voice being amplified may speak ill as well as good. One voice can turn to many, and make or break real people in the real world. Which is where the castration part of this post comes in. Ms. Heffernan’s view about castration (which she modified after posting to Change My View) brought to mind a story of a friend’s husband recently relayed to me by my wife. This friend’s husband was convicted of a sexual offense many years ago. I don`t know the particulars of his case, but I know he served many years in prison before finally being paroled recently.
It used to be that when someone committed a crime, they would be duly convicted, sentenced to prison, serve their time, then be released to rejoin society and lead a societally acceptable life after having paid that societal debt in the form of prison time. Now, because of the internet, nobody gets to move beyond their past when convicted of a felony. Their punishment continues even after their release from prison. Nobody gets it more, or worse, than convicted sex offenders; though the attitudes of society toward the convicted, overall, is pretty much uniform across most felonies. Our friend’s husband is a prime example of this.
So, this guy finally gets his chance at freedom after serving his time, after paying his debt to society. He gets a job as an administrative assistant, working in an office setting. Well, word gets out(via Facebook, Snapchat, or whatever) that he’s a convicted sex offender fresh out of prison, so people complain to his employer and he is fired. No doubt he’s on some sex offender registry where anyone can look him up and take it upon themselves to punish him for his crimes more than he’s already been punished.
Now, I fully understand not wanting any kind of criminal around anywhere they might be tempted to repeat their prior crimes, but I don`t understand the need to fully ostracize any ex-felon from society at large. In the long-run, all that does is push people in corners–physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally–which actually increases the odds of those people reoffending. When people are ostracized, they generally don`t have the psychological tools for coping with that. Unless someone is extremely committed to self-awareness, self-control, introspection, and making sure they never do anything to jeopardize their freedom, it’s easy for them to become hopeless, which leads to a more nihilist attitude and bitterness, which leads to self-destructive behaviors. And those self-destructive behaviors invariably are destructive to the people and world around those self-destructive individuals.
Personally, if I was working with someone with a checkered past, I would want to keep them right there where I could keep an eye on them. I would know where they are, what they’re doing, and that they have something to lose if they slip up. From a rational standpoint, that increases my protection and safety. On the other end of the spectrum, if you push that person away and give them no vested interest in society, they become hopeless and antisocial. I mean, imagine if you were ostracized and shunned by society for years on end: at what point would you lash out, either at yourself of those around you?
As a society, what do we want? Who are we? Do we believe in compassion and forgiveness? Do we believe in second chances? Is prison enough punishment and protection? If we are going to let people out of prison, we need to recognize our responsibility to help these people reintegrate into society. A maxim I live by is that good behavior should be rewarded and bad behavior should not be rewarded. If you punish good behavior, what does that say? It tells the person you’re punishing that they shouldn`t do whatever it was that got him punished; It also tells him that punishment is arbitrary, and doing the right thing in society is meaningless: you’re a pariah no matter what you do.
Humans are simultaneously simple and complex. Performing a societal castration on someone–cutting them off, ostracizing them–is a simple response to a complex problem. Yes, there are serial predators and pure psychopaths in the world. But, more so, the world is populated by average human beings who make lots of mistakes and then try to learn from those mistakes and improve themselves. The serial predators and psychopaths should be treated if possible, and kept locked away if they can’t be treated and taught to abide by society’s laws. As for the people who broke the trust of society…well, you don`t have to help them on their path to reintegration into society. But neither should you deliberately hinder them from trying to do good, to contribute to society, to pay taxes and make their amends. It’s debatable if people deserve third, fourth, and fifth chances, but everyone deserves a second chance.
a life without parole 