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2 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. iii (1981-1984)

handle is hein.journals/jccj2 and id is 1 raw text is: EDITORIAL THE PHARISEES ARE STILL WITH US by John P. Kwevy, Mh.D. Profeor, Deiptmentof a Crnke Jusice Californi Stae Mthwtry, Lay Bach Criminal justice public policy is as evasive as it is pervasive in our American society. In our attempt to achieve community we have addressed criminal justice with a do good philosophy at one and of the spectrum and by paeionate Invocation of punitive attitudes at the other end. We have not avn approached the development of a consistent rationale for dealing with the issues of crime and criminality In spite of our committment to justice for all, yet, we persist in proclaming that what we ar doing at a particular point in time reflects undoubtedly the correct cours of action. Much of the ambivalence stems from our inability to establish a philosophy for the administration of criminal justice based on human reason, human decency and human dignity. We are rightfully proud that we are a nation which adher to the rub of law rather than the rub of men. Our leget heritag is an integral component of our belief system for a democratic society adopted by our forefathers to protect the rights of the individual as well as society. This heritage has been a levening agent for proecting our nation and people from the fallibility of law makers and administrators who have persisted in providing erratic patterns for criminal justice, which have provided more injustice than real justice. Our reluctance to recogize that criminal justice may only be achieved by the pursuit of social justice has meant that we have designed a criminal justice system which is limited to the treatment of the symptoms of crime and criminal behavior. The system has never been designed as a cureall for crime, yet we persist in aguming that we can pass laws and our judiciary, and law enforcement and correctional agencies can manipulate these laws to accomplish the impossible without attacking the root causes. Legislative bodies have provided us with a body of criminal law purportedly designed to apply to il members of society by equitable and just enforcement for the protection of society as a whole, yet, in the words of Justice David L. Barelon of the U. S. District Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, 'We find that our street criminals typically cone from the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and from the ignorant, the ill-educated, the unemployed and the unemployable. History continues to repeat itself. Waldron Scott in his book. BRING fORTH JUSTICE, provides us with the insight. Rich men can afford the luxury of sabbeth reaglations (but) hungry men cannot. He is referring to Jesus confrontation with the Pharisees some 2000 years ago when in so doing He placed himself squarely against the leaders of the Jewish people. Jesus was a legal traditionalist but he admonished his followers to temper justice with compassion. Since our criminal law has a beis in the Judeo-Christian tess& tradition one would think that we would have bee more cognizant in the development of puMic policies which in fact temper justice with mercy and compassion. Oh yes, we can point to the introduction of the treatnent, rehabilitation and correctional justice model periodically but in fact we haee persistad in maintaining the punishment model for the administration of criminal justice. In our piety and self-righeousness we persist in emulating the Phariseesl However, we have developed a body of scholarly theory which addresses the canes of crime and criminal behavior and meaningful approaches for the administradon of criminal justice. Religious and socially concerned groups and organizations have fought long and hard to achieve a system which tempers justice with mercy and compassion. Unfortunately, political and bureaucratic considerations have consistently been given preference In our development of public policies. This has meant *t expediency has been the dominant factor in shaping our responses to criminal justice issues, hence our pubic peelIes refect a cumulative hodge podge of ad hoc reactions to perceived as weall as real crisis. Ill Digitized from Best Copy Available 0

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