I believe that sometimes incarceration leads to important and necessary changes. But I also believe it has many unintended consequences where the harshest punishment is meted out to folks whose only crime was being related to someone who messed up, maybe a little or maybe lots; but the bill does not come to only for the one whose choices were foolish and/or illegal.
If you are Enron executives convicted of financial crimes, you can negotiate to make sure husband and wife serve staggered sentences so the children don't wind up in foster care or with aged grandparents. These are fortunate children indeed who were allowed to avoid some of the greatest challenges most children of felons experience.
As a result, the sins of such parents often cause suffering for their own parents and their children. Even when the sinners have "done their time" they often need financial support that would not be needed if they were treated reasonably by a nation which seems to prefers to pouring money into welfare, food stamps and section 8 housing so we can pretend that we are intrinsically less bad than someone whose parent had fewer resources for an attorney. Would that as a nation we actually believed in punishment that fits the crime and supported a reasonable hope that folks can be allowed to be self-supporting going forward if they so choose.
For an interesting perspective click here:_National Council on Domestic and Sexual Violence to read about what can happen for folks who are arrested but not even convicted in too many states.
If you are Enron executives convicted of financial crimes, you can negotiate to make sure husband and wife serve staggered sentences so the children don't wind up in foster care or with aged grandparents. These are fortunate children indeed who were allowed to avoid some of the greatest challenges most children of felons experience.
As a result, the sins of such parents often cause suffering for their own parents and their children. Even when the sinners have "done their time" they often need financial support that would not be needed if they were treated reasonably by a nation which seems to prefers to pouring money into welfare, food stamps and section 8 housing so we can pretend that we are intrinsically less bad than someone whose parent had fewer resources for an attorney. Would that as a nation we actually believed in punishment that fits the crime and supported a reasonable hope that folks can be allowed to be self-supporting going forward if they so choose.
For an interesting perspective click here:_National Council on Domestic and Sexual Violence to read about what can happen for folks who are arrested but not even convicted in too many states.
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