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Just as the painful misalignment of the spine is causing excruciating suffering in the individual case that has inspired the Backbone of Justice Project for Probation Reform, misalignment of the entire basis of HOW the justice system is organized is causing unnecessary and disproportionate suffering and struggling in
MILLIONS of people facing post-incarceration challenges.
The mere fact that probation officers are sanctioned by "the system" to
make decisions in total absence of sufficient expertise in a variety of the
decision-making domains (e.g., medical, child development, trauma-recovery,
addiction recovery) in which they exert their authority... IS ALARMING.
The fact that probation officers make decisions for other humans and families,
despite a glaring lack of knowledge of the actual life-circumstances of the
overextended number people on their caseloads... IS ALARMING.
The fact that many probation officers lack in empathy and some have an
underdeveloped capacity for moral reasoning based on higher-order-principles
(vs. a more rigid "law and order" lower stage of moral reasoning), and that
there is not a rubric for better determining who is in these authoritarian and
power-based roles within our societies... IS ALARMING.
And that this manner of societal operating prevents people on probation from making being able to exercise their choices and taking reasonable actions in the best interest of their medical, familial, relational, residential, occupational, financial, physical, spiritual, and emotional wellbeing ...IS ALARMING.
The fact that there is no grievance procedure for these harm-causing systems outside of the system itself ...
...IS ALARMING.
When our governmental systems have unchecked authority - and a documented track record - to do more harm to an individual than that individual has ever done to any other person or to society...
THE ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING....
Calling us to WAKE UP. Ringing loud and clear that WE...
WE, THE PEOPLE,
MUST DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE THE SYSTEMS!
THE ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING!
Unfortunately, as these alarm bells are ringing, it is often only heard loud and clear in the lives of those affected by the brokenness of the justice system.
And the system itself renders those affected voiceless, powerless, and without
anywhere to turn for fair advocacy and oversight to struggles they
might be having due to abuses within the justice system itself.
Given the inherent nature of the justice system as punitive and decontextualized
from the risk factors (e.g., financial circumstances, lack of safety or options,
insufficient social support) which put people in its clutches, it marginalizes people.
Thereby, the system isolates them from or deprives them of aspects of society
which could otherwise be in position to lend compassionate
intervention and social belonging, which could reduce recidivism.
This means that the alarm often goes unnoticed or unresponded to, because
those who could be in "positions of possibility" to help out don't hear it.
So, the most vulnerable members of society remain in positions of impossibility.
This renders the person on probation unable to mobilize the needed support.
Far too frequently, persons, agencies, organizations, or even entire fields of expertise which could take influential action towards betterment, are either out of range of hearing the alarm bells ringing, or, the alarm bells may be sensed, but people wanting to take influential action on behalf of someone on probation are rendered powerless to do so, because...
The corrupted power structure of the probation system trumps effective advocacy of medical, mental health, child development, employment, and economic specialists and systems which otherwise could be poised to play a more supportive role, given sufficient probation reform.
As things currently stand, all of these support factors could improve outcomes,
yet are shackled from effectiveness.
Worse, a person on probation often has nobody to turn to.
What can a person on probation do if...
...their probation officer limits their freedom to travel for essential medical care, to treat a condition leading to severe pain, but due to the denied access to the necessary medical intervention, they consequentially need to rely on pain medications with acutely life-interfering and long-term side effects damaging their health?
... the probation restrictions interfere with ability to work in order to provide secure housing, food, and childcare for one's family's needs?
... housing is difficult to secure due to being on probation, given fears that housing could be lost and important social support relationships damaged by the probation procedures which may involve disclosure of being on supervised release in situations where there person on probation has never been a threat to public safety?
...a probation officer makes an unreasonable demand which puts the person in a double-bind to either comply with the probation officer or endanger the medical and emotional wellbeing of themselves and their family, but the risk of not complying is to go to prison - due to a situation which arose on an administrative technicality?
...the circumstances their probation officer limits them to risks their children going to foster care when this would not be in the best interests of the children, completely unnecessary given parental competence, and damaging to the emotional wellbeing of the child/children, but the probation officer says, "I don't care" about the wellbeing of the children and threatens imprisonment and foster care, over non-criminal, petty technical issues related to the double-bind of the conditions of probation?
...a probation officer cites them with a technical violation when they were acting in the best interest of their medical condition and physical and emotional safety of their child, but this caused an administrative delay?
...their children are suffering senseless separations due to conditions of probation which do not optimally take into consideration how supportive factors could be prioritized to keep families together?
These are all real-life examples of the
impossible and heartbreaking situations
experienced in the case which has inspired
this current initiative as
a Social Impact Organization
to advocate for new procedures
to increase the safety and wellbeing
of people on probation, along with their families.
Given these first-hand struggles and sufferings, as well as awareness that many people suffer even greater injustice at the hands of the justice system itself...
It has become clear that we need
a New Backbone of Justice, to balance societal safety and individual welfare.
Please consider supporting these efforts to help us make certain that the
current punitive orientation of the probation system becomes a thing of the past,
paving an emerging future for rehabilitative, regenerative, restorative modes of justice.
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