A Challenge for Justice...

A problem that always arises in programs such as these generally seem to be trust related. For these prisoners having a person come into their domain (prison) and spend two hours out of their lives once a week to help “them” is extremely important to these prisoners. For a lot of people who have made an unfortunate mistake that places them in an intimidating place, like prison, bonds are the only things these prisoners hold on to; this is how respect is formed. Each week we tutor these inmates, and each week we continue to show up – they respect us more. “That’s 3 weeks for you!” an inmate tells me every week with a smile and a head nod. And every Thursday, I wait for that statement because I know each week they have more and more respect for me. Respect is a hard thing to earn, especially in a prison. Why is that?
I simply think it’s because for many of these men they have had so many people who have lied, and stripped away their belief in trust from them. In fact during the discussion time this week, some of the injustices these men have been faced with were talked about in this week’s discussion.

This week in discussion we incorporated images with text, which provoked a very intriguing discussion with the inmates me and the other tutors. The first image was an image from the Holocaust, and attached to it was Elli Weisel’s speech, given this year with President Obama. The second image was from the Vietnam war, of a little girl running naked and burning after the bomb went off, and attached to that image was a speech given by little girl (now woman), in the picture. These images not only sparked many emotions with the prisoners but a very lengthy conversation as well. During this discussion many political issues, civil rights, human rights, and other societal issues were main topics of conversation. This seems to have become a pattern among the prisoners and I, there always is a point where they want to challenge me. Every week at the session go on, I begin to welcome and almost expect these challenges from the prisoners. Now having developed somewhat of trust and respect relationship with the prisoners, many of them know that my future aspirations are to become a judge. Many of the prisoners have expressed that this is very commendable of me. It seems as though they have come to the understanding that I choose to work in the prisons with them because I want to have a better understanding of “true justice” and how the “real” justice system works. Many instances they inmates ask me about law journals, they ask me if I read them, they want to know my opinion on current legal events. Many times it is astonishing to me how informed they are of current legal issues.

In fact, this week I was asked another very direct question by one of the prisoners. Simply, they asked me “what do you think about Judge Immunity?” At first, I admit I was confused, but as they saw the look of confusion on my face, he continued to explain. By now, all of the prisoners who are involved in this tutoring program know that my future aspirations are to be a judge. Since that information was released the prisoners have become much more direct and intrigued with me. As the inmate continued to explain he interjected a personal story to help me to understand. He said during his trial he had a jury trial, and at the end of his trail the jury came back with a not-guilty decision. He then said that the judge didn’t approve of that ruling so he told the jury to go back in and re-deliberate. “That is illegal!” he said. But judges are immune to the law, and they will never and can never be prosecuted as long as they have that immunity. I was astonished with the directness of the conversation, but not surprised at all. My response was corruption exists, and taking away immunities isn’t going to end corruption. They were not satisfied with that answer. At this point many inmates began to respond – well don’t you think that taking away immunities would deter judges from committing these kinds of crimes. I began to attempt to justify my response - it may deter some judges, but judges are in a position of power and with that power innately there are certain immunities. But why is that ok? – They asked. At this point they weren’t asking me about immunities – they were training me to become the type of judge they want, in the type of system that provides “real justice” – the system America needs…