An unacceptable position on justice and imprisonment

In recent years, the Overton Window of acceptable positions to hold on how we deal with crime and punishment has shifted considerably. Campaigning by prison abolition groups — once viewed as batshit crazy by virtually all sectors of society — has gained traction with the academic and activist leftists. Add to that the cries to “defund the police” that emerged from Black Lives Matter protests this year and we see the meta narrative of justice being framed differently by cultural elites.

It is certainly time we review the efficacy of the tools of the criminal justice system by utilising the information we now have regarding recidivism and inconsistent applications of the law. However, the conversation seems to have shifted to one that centres the perpetrators of crime and largely ignores the victims. While every reason under the sun is used to excuse criminal behaviour and absolve criminals of responsibility, little thought is given to the part of criminal justice that acknowledges the impact of the crime on the victim and relates to both punishment and protection.

It has become the Right On™ position to view criminal justice through a racial lens. Analysis of the overrepresentation of certain races and ethnicities in the prison population is preferenced over any other kind of analysis. Systemic racism is held up as the rotten…