New Jim Crow: Chapters 4-5

I think the most difficult thing to swallow is the idea that there is no way of being successful in this system once you're part of it. If the true goal of the criminal justice system were rehabilitation and ending crime, rather than its true goals of profit and social control, then it would not be so exclusionary  and near impossible to reintegrate back into society. How do we expect crime to end and people to become re-acclimated to society after prison time  if they are unable to get jobs, find places to live,  keep their families together, get housing., and discriminated against with impunity? Once relegated to this position, it seems virtually impossible to vacate it. And they don't have the proper warning prior to pleading guilty or accepting a plea bargain, because no one in the court system is required to tell them of these "collateral consequences" (143). I also thought it was appalling that people are at risk even if they have had no direct knowledge or involvement in drug use, but have a relative who has had some sort of involvement with illegal drug activity, which forces families to choose between taking care of themselves or helping out their family members who have recently been released from jail and have no where to go. The fact that suspicion is enough to expel or refuse someone from housing is particularly upsetting. These sorts of laws just push people back to drugs (if they even had a serious problem in the first place or if it was a matter of mere possession) or prison, which creates a vicious cycle. Also, I was extremely shocked by how tough a stance Bill Clinton had on "crime," especially in regards to the "one strike" rules of public housing. Given how he is seen as such a progressive president, it is hard to believe that he was able to do such things and was celebrated, rather than lambasted, for them, which goes to show the problematic ideology of punishment over treatment in regards to drugs in this country.Thisreality reminded me of a documentary I saw about this tent city of people who have served time as sex offenders, and  are therefore restricted from living in certain neighborhoods due to rules about living near schools and playgrounds and the like. Forced to find shelter in the woods, they now have small communities where they struggle for survival. Like the "felon" label, once given the label of sex offender, they are marginalized and rejected from mainstream society. Although it's hard to be sympathetic towards someone who has abused a child, at the same time these people have no where to go and it is likely that they will never get the psychiatric help needed to help prevent future crimes they may commit and doesn't solve the problem of sexual abuse by any means. When we treat people as subhumans, no matter what the reason may be, this never makes us any better than those whom we are looking down upon, and arguably makes us worse.