The Mechanics of Justice
Throughout Elizabeth Spelman’s Repair, we have been introduced to several forms of repair and how they are evident in our lives. In Chapter 4 specifically, Spelman relates repair to our criminal justice system and its effect(s) on the social fabric of life. The two forms of punishment that she mentions are that of retributive and restorative justice. Retributive justice refers to the form of punishment associated with the extraction or removal of a criminal from the community in which they committed a felony or broke a law. Under retributive justice, the criminal is typically incarcerated or subject to some form of confinement. On the other hand, the form of justice less popular in western culture (restorative) is concerned with fixing more profound things such as the internal damage suffered by members of a community that were impacted by a crime or criminal. Spelman lists the pros and cons of both retributive and restorative justice and explains the different ways in which repair exists in each form.
Retributive justice is the most commonly used form of punishment by law enforcers, but does this mean that it is properly justified or correct? Is there a more effective alternative to retributive justice that both protects a community from the potential dangers of a criminal and restores the social fabric back to a functioning and normal state? The answer to these questions, in my opinion, lies in the principles and aspects of restorative justice. Spelman writes in Chapter 4, “…the law focuses on those harms only to the extent necessary to establish the guilt the offender and the appropriate level of punishment to be meted” (Spelman 54). My interpretation of this quote is that the law does not holistically fix or heal the feelings or emotions of the victims of a crime. Imprisonment may not always heal or correct a law breaker as well. In fact, imprisonment may intensify or worsen a situation. An example of this can be found in the movie Shawshank Redemption, where the extent to which the negative effects imprisonment could potentially have on a criminal are accurately depicted.
The movie Shawshank Redemption is centered around a fictional prison camp, Shawshank, that is located in the State of Maine whose inmates most commonly serve time for crimes committed such as murder. At the beginning of the movie, several characters are introduced, such as Red, played by Morgan Freeman, and Brooks, played by Frank Darabont. In addition, the Shawshank prison warden (Norton) and guards are also introduced. When Norton and the guards are first introduced, Norton shares with the inmates rules and guidelines that they are to follow as well as personal values that he holds to a high standard. One of the rules that Norton stressed the most was that of the prohibition of blasphemy and the taking of the Lord God’s name in vain. The values that he shared include that of discipline and reading the Bible.
Brooks was imprisoned in Shawshank for 50 years and was released under the discretion of the prison guards. After his release, he wasn’t sure how to cope with reality mentally because society had evolved so much. Things like automobiles that were just becoming popular before he was sent away to prison were used in everyday life by the time he was released. New styles of fashion and rapid urbanization had made its way into Brook’s town. Afraid, confused, and angry, Brooks did not know how to properly deal with this seemingly new world that he had been released into. In order to deal with these mixed emotions that resulted from this culture shock, Brooks hung himself. Spelman writes: “What’s wrong with the proponents of restorative justice, is that the criminal justice system fails to identify important harms- to locate all the places where repair work needs to be done- and doesn’t know how to fix the harms it does identify” (Spelman 54). Brook’s situation perfectly relates to this quote in a sense that he was, quite literally, abandoned by society. Brook was sent to a place where he was seemingly expected to repair himself mentally and is evidence that self-repair is a very difficult thing to do under the mechanics of retributive justice.
In contrast, retributive justice may not always lead to a negative outcome. Spelman states: “It is true that that historically there have been attempts to justify punishment in terms of its capacity to get offenders to mend their ways (prisons and jails as ‘penitentiaries,’ as ‘houses of correction’)” (Spelman 56). In a sense, Shawshank could be considered as one of these particular “houses of correction,” even though it operates strictly under a retributive justice system. As previously mentioned, the prison warden listed values that he encouraged prisoners of Shawshank to embody or practice, such as reading the Bible daily. Although this is not imposed upon the inmates, but rather encouraged, it can be reasonably inferred that Shawshank will eventually heal those who seek healing themselves, and this sort of self-healing (or repair) can be found in the Bible, as the warden implies.
If one were to examine the character progression of Red throughout the movie, you would be able to deduce that Red truly took advantage of the resources available to him at Shawshank in order to self-repair himself. Red serves a life sentence at Shawshank on the account of murder. During one scene in particular, we witness one of Red’s first parole reviews, which are given once every ten years. During the review, Red appears before the parole review committee and is asked questions. Red tells the committee that he is no longer a “detriment to society” and has become a “changed man.” As a result, Red was denied parole. Red is left struggling with feelings of confusion and dread for the next 10 years at Shawshank, wondering what the most suitable and appropriate answer(s) are to the committee’s questions. Later, Red is denied parole a second time when he appeared before the committee ten years following his first appearance. Ironically, Red gave nearly identical answers to the committee’s questions stating that he believed that he had been transformed into a “changed man.”
It was not until Red’s third appearance before the parole committee, 20 years after his first appearance, that he was finally granted parole. During this specific appearance, Red gave answers that differed dramatically from his answers related to his first and second appearances. When asked if Red had been rehabilitated for a third time, Red scoffed at the committee and explained how he believed the word “rehabilitated” to be figurative. Red also expressed how if he could speak to the person he was when he committed murder that he wouldn’t be able to because that person ceased to exist.
At one point in the movie, Norton shared with the inmates one of his favorite Bible verses, which was that of “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). I feel that the Norton was trying to communicate to the inmates that self-healing truly lies within oneself and that those who wish to seek healing will be healed, with the Bible being the key to this concept of self-healing. There are several examples of religious figures that were able to self-heal themselves in the Bible, such as St. Paul. Red was able to self-heal or repair himself because he sought out the proper tools needed in order to do so. Red listened to the Warden and learned from the stories of healing in the Bible that were at his disposal in order to become a changed man and achieve redemption. The path toward achieving redemption is like seeing “light at the end of the tunnel.” The light symbolizes redemption, which could be classified as the healing that takes place after the repair of something that has been injured or damaged. The darkness of the tunnel represents what needs to be healed, and the light that can be seen through the darkness represents the difference between redemption and the desire to be redeemed.
After reading Elizabeth Spelman’s Repair, I have learned a great deal about human restorative impulses and how they are evident in everyday life. Repair can be found in several forms or areas of life, such as in respect to human relationships, physical repair, or even to principles of law, such as the criminal justice system. In regards to the legal justice system, Spelman compares two forms of justice, retributive and restorative. Spelman defines and lists advantages and disadvantages of each form of justice while suggesting that discernment of a character flaw and self-repair is the ultimate solution to this complex system. Several examples of the facets of retributive justice are accurately depicted in movies, such as Shawshank Redemption. Although Shawshank Redemption may be a fictional story with fictional charters, one is truly able to see how when one is living under the jurisdiction of a system or way of life in which the optimal resources of repair are not available, the best remedy is to take advantage of all resources and to make the personal commitment to seek out ways to engage in self-repair.
Works Cited
Spelman, Elizabeth V. Repair: The Impulse to Restore in a Fragile World. Boston: Beacon, 2002
Print.
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. By Frank Darabont. Perf. Tim Robbins,
Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, and James Whitmore. Columbia Pictures, 1994.
