In my off and abouts of the day, I heard tell of criminals on work programs, here in the Salt Lake Valley. Now, these criminals were working at the most reputable of places.
And, doing hard work, and being paid so little that they came away jaded, mad at the world because they were coming away with little to show for it.
And, I thought of an old roommate, and of the madness he displayed toward the court system, for how sometimes they expected him to pay fines so high he sometimes just couldn't scrape enough money together to pay it.
I think they may have excused him, for all though he went back to jail, it wasn't for failure to pay the fines, to my understanding. But, the point is, he became embittered towards the justice system, for expecting that which wasn't just.
They are going to find fault with the system, regardless, for it is the nature of man these days to find fault. But, I would that we wouldn't give them cause. All people deserve to be treated fairly, including inmates. In some ways, of all people we should treat fairly, the inmate is at the top of the list. If we are to rehabilitate him, we will need to deserve his trust. Nobody cares to follow someone who treats them wrong. If we want them to listen to us, and change their lives, and leave crime behind, then we must treat them right.
(A blank page was posted 9-29, but this was actually written the next day.)
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