Does Our Penal System Administer Justice? -Matt

The simple answer to this question is yes.  I say simple because the penal system in our context is the administration arm of the judicial system.  If a person commits a crime, and is caught, he appears before a court and is judged.  From there the imposed punishment is administered by our prison system. 

Done; end of story.  The penal system administers justice.  Next question?

Wait.

The more nuanced answer is no.  The reason why this is more nuanced is that one needs to look at what is justice to understand if the penal system is administering this justice.  On the most basic level justice is fairness (in both the context of punishment or reward).  It is the desire or ability to reward good behavior or to correct bad behavior, and like in the case of money, it is to be a method to expunge the debt.  In the case of the penal system the operational sphere is with regard to justice is punishment for a crime.

For the sake of this argument I think it is important to look at what is considered a crime.  I, in my infinite wisdom, would define a crime as simply any act that interferes with the Rights of another person.  And that the government, which is a social contract that imbues authority, is the entity responsible for enforcing personal rights.  Our particular brand of government goes further to state that individuals are equal in standing and that there is no privileged class of people (regardless of race, gender or creed).  The protection of rights is the foundational principle for government and really it’s only authority.  Going further, a crime has two parties (while each party may consist of many people); the perpetrator (interferor) and the victim (interferee).  These are two separate parties and in no case can a crime be committed within one party.  I am unable to interfere in my own rights. 

Over 50% of the prison population (i.e. those tried in a court and had a sentence imposed and is currently being administered by the penal system) are classified as non-violent drug offenders.  What this means is that these persons were caught using or had drugs on their person and that they have no record of any violent act on a person or property.  A disproportionate number of these inmates are classified as minorities.  

Why is this important to note?

First, there is no evidence that drug use is greater or more frequent in minority populations as opposed to any other demographic.  So, if justice were blind to race and creed the demographic make up of the prison population for drug related offenses should be proportional.

Second, non-violent drug convections are victimless.  Remember, to be a crime there must be a victim and a perpetrator.  Who is the victim if I were to use drugs?  No doubt I may impact loved ones around me, but that does not constitute a violation of their rights. 

These two reasons (among many more I did not address) illustrate that the penal system does not administer justice (the key word being justice).  It does administer punishment for the court system, but this is not justice.