Machinery of Justice

I was introduced to Camus in an ISP Philosophy class a few semesters ago. I decided to read The Stranger independently of school over the summer and it has maintained a special meaning for me. This could be because Camus’ writing is compelling and the story is brilliantly woven with substance and meaning. Or perhaps it is because within weeks of reading it I served on jury duty on a criminal case and could compare very clearly the fictional irrationality of law with the American Justice system in the real world. It also seems that I have been somewhat unable to escape many of the sentiments in this book over the past year.

I was recently, inadvertently, introduced to a band called Titus Andronicus. I saw them play at the Bowery Ballroom in February 2009, and though they are an indie/punkish band a genre of music which lends itself to energetic performances, theirs was one of the most emotionally charged, exciting and good I’ve ever seen. After poking around on the internet to learn more about them and listen to some more of their music, I learned that the Titus Andronicus is also one of Shakespeare’s earliest and bloodiest tragedies. At the end of the bands' song " Fear and Loathing," Titus Andronicus lead singer reads a monologue from a the play. The quote is by Aaron ( who is interestingly a Moor!) and it describes all the horrible deeds he has done in an a tone of such defiance that it gave me chills at how similar it felt to the last paragraphs of The Stranger.

I had two reactions to this. First of all how can people who are supposed to be indifferent commit such passionate acts to demonstrate or prove their indifference? ( Not only murder but the bands screaming) Second, is this simply a part of humanity? If everyone from Shakespeare to Camus to college kids from Jersey are feeling it .. maybe it’s just something we exist with.
Camus mentions the “machinery of justice”. Justice –such an abstract word- is most familiar to us in the realm of the criminal jus tice system. But this function of justice( the CJS) only exists within our conceptions of things like society, morals, and rights. Camus, Shakespeare and Titus Andronicus all seem to be expressing some defiance of a system that they deem to be meaningless, and by inference unjust.

As workers in the criminal justice and humanities fields we will be exposed to “the benign indifference of the universe” as Camus puts it. And we will be part of a system of justice that doesn’t feel very just at all. How much do you agree or disagree with Camus’ notion of the “machinery of justice” and in what ways do you think we can prevent ourselves from being overcome by it?

Is it the place or is it the people?

This past Thursday we got to the unanimous conclusion that violence should not be a part of our prison system and that it can be prevented. At this point, I would like to shift the focus on a different aspect. Probably, all of you heard about the Stanford Prison Experiment. As a quick overview, Philip Zimbardo a Psychology Professor at Stanford University created a mock prison. All the participants in the study were college students who volunteered to be part of the project. The students chosen to be prisoners went through the whole process of being arrested, booked, fingerprinted, placed and held in a cell. Their hair was shaved and each prisoner was forced to wear a heavy chain bolted to their right ankle. The guards were also college students who did not receive special training, but were advised to maintain the law and order in prison. The experiment was stopped after only 6 days because the “guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress.” So my question is: Is it the setting that makes people violent, or people in a position of authority become violent?
Going back to our last week discussion about language, do you think that if we change the name of this institution and the people associated with it, we are taking away their authority? What would be the options of a new guard who doesn’t want to abuse his/her authority, if the other guards pressure him to go against his/her beliefs? Do you believe that more women correction officers may help reduce violence? Are prisoners more likely or less likely to comply with orders received from women correctional officers? Do you think that violence can be reduced and prisoners better rehabilitated if we create a more liberal prison model, such as prisons without cells and no tick walls (just some fences)? Is it even realistic to aim for a violence free prison system when we live in a violent world (the yesterday Binghampton shooting is just one example)?
Please feel free to take this in any direction you would like or to express your ideas and/or concerns on the topic.