The Hypocrisy of Alleged American Criminal Justice
It’s all wrong: in America, punishments for citizens don’t reflect punishments for their country
My American pupil was taken aback when I shared with him the absence of life imprisonment in Portugal. Here, we uphold a maximum sentence of 25 years. While I hold a sense of national pride in this facet of our justice system, his reaction revealed a different sentiment.
He immediately embarked on a fervent discourse, arguing vehemently that some individuals who commit heinous crimes are irredeemable for life and must be sequestered from society indefinitely.
This law, revered by some and reviled by others, prompts profound contemplation. Such contemplation was stirred within me once more today, prompted by a distressing news report concerning an American mother who, while vacationing, left her infant daughter unattended at home, resulting in the child’s untimely death.
Now, the mother faces the punishment of enduring her own self-inflicted torment, confined to prison indefinitely — or, as some online commentators callously suggested, perhaps finding refuge in the embrace of suicide.
The news shook me to the core, not solely because of the tragedy inflicted upon an innocent soul by an indifferent human being but also because of the rush to judgment that ensued. Even in the potential depths of remorse, this person will never be afforded the opportunity to demonstrate her capacity for redemption. As such, she might not even try it.
These narratives, although distressing, highlight a recurring theme in a nation often heralded as the epitome of progress: the high incidence of crime and barbaric acts that either feed fiction or are influenced by it, perpetuating cycles of violence. Additionally, the United States boasts one of the highest rates of incarceration globally, with life sentences and even the death penalty meted out in certain states.
Apparently, these penalties are not working to make their society better.
Empirical evidence consistently demonstrates that such severe penalties do little to deter crime. The oft-quoted adage from American cinema, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” fails to address the root causes of criminal behavior. The supposed deterrent effect of harsh punishments does little to dissuade individuals from committing heinous acts or resorting to violence, as evidenced by the all-too-frequent occurrences of gun violence on American streets.
Yet, what baffles me more is the profound contradictions in American society in relating violence, justice, and religion. Clearly, the professed religiosity of the United States and its punitive justice system present a glaring contradiction.
One can easily ask: from a people who call themselves so Christian but who have such blatant punitive rules, haven’t they learned about forgiveness? Isn’t this noble act the most Christian and dignified thing to do? Shouldn’t we seek the possibility of finding peace of soul for both the victim of the crime and the one who committed it?
Americans, who have always lived under such a reality, might find this whole system reasonable. Still, nations with more progressive approaches, such as the Nordic European countries, view American penalties as archaic and inhumane.
At the same time, with the biggest irony of all, while they impose harsh penalties for individual crimes, they paradoxically evade accountability for their own transgressions on the global stage.
This hypocrisy is exemplified by the U.S.’s unilateral actions, which, with a permanent veto in the UN assembly, continues doing as it pleases. Examples are such as the economic blockade against Cuba or the invasion of Iraq 21 years ago under false pretenses, resulting in the deaths of over a million innocent civilians. But the list could go on…
Currently, the U.S.’s support for Israel’s oppressive regime contradicts its professed values of freedom and democracy— sure, they should change their God Bless America to Money Bless America.
A regime that has a white flag to kill thousands of people, either by dropping bombs on them or by keeping them in an authentic open-air prison without water or food. This is the regime we are all supporting while witnessing history being repeated.
It is a country full of contradictions and people who contradict themselves. People who, like my student, are shocked by an American mother letting her daughter die, but whose death of over 13 thousand children in Gaza is indifferent to them.
A country that is that egocentric and narcissistic person at the party, and that for some time they pay attention to, only in the end for everyone to realize their real and weak character, and everyone turns their backs on them.
We must ask ourselves whether we want to continue giving them importance or whether it’s time to turn our backs on them. Or should we forgive them when they have been given many opportunities and continue to do the same? How long will we have to swallow that they are the self-proclaimed vigilantes of the world? Who appointed them as such?
As long as we have no answers, they will continue to do as they please, perpetuating violence both indoors and outdoors.
The phrase “God Bless America” has never made as much sense as it does now. Indeed, America urgently needs to be blessed because it seems shrouded in a veil of curse.
And the worst, it seems to want us to be engulfed in the same damnation. As for my student, he’s going on a roller-coaster about learning how to live in Portugal.
Hello, I’m Araci, a female writer from Portugal. Thank you so much for reading me.
Your support is fundamental so I can continue writing. As such, If you have enjoyed this article, maybe you would like to buy me a “coffee” here:
Dear Araci,
The complicity between religion and authority is as old as the first civilisations in Mesopotamia,
four millenia ago.
This is very clear in the MAGA movement, and one of the first things Poetin did, was revive the complicity of the Russian Orthodox Church with the State.
Said the baron to the bishop: I will keep them poor, you keep them dumb….
Faith is not the problem, religions are….
"Empirical evidence consistently demonstrates that such severe penalties do little to deter crime."
To influence behavior, it's more important that consequences be CERTAIN than severe. Only a tiny percent of crimes are ever prosecuted, and only a tiny percent of those are convicted.