Justice and Retribution
Barry Lam started the podcast by introducing a woman named Marlyn. Marlyn went to prison with something known as the chain gang, this system was predominantly worse for African American women. There was no system for her to get her GED and was therefore not able to get a job once released due to her record. She would lie about her record, get a job, and then they would find out about her record and she would be fired and start stealing again. She was in and out of jail for more than 40 years of her 69 years she was living. After having a tough talk with a judge she was finally able to get a job and was able to make a difference in her community.
The idea of punishment and prisons is very different depending on who you talk to and host Barry Lam set out to let everyone share their voice. For Marlyn, she set out to abolish ACDC to lower crime rates and lower arrest rates. Eventually the incarceration rate of the jail dropped from 700 a day to less than 70 and succeed in lower the arrest and crime rate in Atlanta, Georgia.
Greg Curuso agrees with Marlyn and believe that people do not deserve to be punished. He believes that everything is preventative and what a person does depends on how they are raised and what they are around. The main things that connect people to later crime are low income, being in a house with weapons, being around a high crime area and etc. These factors are not controlled by the individual and are therefore not the individuals fault.
Retributiveness believe that if you feel guilt then you are guilty. It is acceptable for people to hate you for a crime and they are allowed to put their hate and feelings onto you.
The kind of crime you deserve would be based on the extent of the crime and the best option for the offender. Retributionists say the offender needs to spend time in prison.
Retributive justice argues that they are more respectful of your freedom because a person is allowed to be of a high risk but if they commit a crime then the government would be allowed to punish the offender due to their disrespect of the system and trust of the system.