{"id":743,"date":"2010-10-15T09:11:26","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T14:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/blog\/restorative-justice\/?p=743"},"modified":"2010-10-15T09:14:56","modified_gmt":"2010-10-15T14:14:56","slug":"hip-hop-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/2010\/10\/15\/hip-hop-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Hip-hop justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe American criminal justice system is so dysfunctional that it presents well-intentioned people with a dilemma.\u00a0 Should good people cooperate with it?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Butler should know whereof he speaks:\u00a0 he is a former federal prosecutor.<\/p>\n

Speaking of prison, he says, \u201cThe criminal justice system gives the state a monopoly on exercising that kind of retribution.\u00a0 It\u2019s legal hate.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that it\u2019s hard to contain.\u00a0 In the United States the rush to punish is out of control.\u00a0 In addition to the violent creeps I put away, I sent hundred of other people to prison who should not be there.\u00a0 Their incarceration only makes things worse \u2013 for them and especially for us on the outside.\u00a0 We would all be better off if I lost those cases.\u00a0 We would be safer and more free.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was too good a prosecutor to lose much.\u00a0 And then I got locked up myself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Butler was falsely charged. He was eventually found not guilty because he knew the ropes and could hire a good attorney.\u00a0 Significantly, and not coincidentally, Butler is African American.<\/p>\n

In Let\u2019s Get Free:\u00a0 A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice<\/strong>,<\/em><\/a> Paul Butler tells his story, then analyzes the US system of punishment \u2013 its overuse of prison, its disproportionate impact on communities of color, the threats to freedom it poses, the false sense of security it exudes.\u00a0 He suggests a number of remedies, though none quite get at the basic question of punishment.<\/p>\n

Butler argues that incarceration lowers crime to a certain point; once this tipping point is reached, however, prison actually increases crime.\u00a0 America has far exceeded that point. If we released 500,000 non-violent offenders, he says, we would be both safer and freer.<\/p>\n

He also argues that this system puts too much power into the hands of the state.<\/p>\n

Given these concerns, Butler calls for juries to exercise their right to nullify the law when they think it is being inappropriately applied.\u00a0 The U. S. Constitution recognizes the right of juries to disregard evidence and acquit a defendant when they believe that the law is wrong or unfairly applied.\u00a0 But few jurors know this.\u00a0 In fact, the Supreme Court has recognized the right of juries to nullify but ruled that they should not be told they have this right.\u00a0\u00a0 As Butler says, when juries nullify they act lawfully, but no one is required to tell them they have this option.<\/p>\n

Here is where it gets interesting.\u00a0 In cases of minor drug violations, when the law is clearly being enforced in a discriminatory manner, Butler calls for jury nullification as an act of civil disobedience:\u00a0 \u201c\u2026now is the time for Martin Luther King jurors\u2026. Nullification is the new-school form of civil disobedience.\u201d\u00a0 His argument for this and his campaign for jury nullification can be found at www.JurorsforJustice.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Butler\u2019s chapter entitled \u201cShould Good People Be Prosecutors?\u201d is a reflection on the complexities of trying to \u201cdo good\u201d within political and punitive systems and cultures.\u00a0 It is a helpful case study for those who are considering the pros and cons of working at social change from within or from outside of systems. \u00a0It is also an important read for those considering the legal profession as an avenue for social change.<\/p>\n

For real transformation to happen we must listen to those most affected by justice.\u00a0 Thus, Butler concludes, we have much to learn about justice from hip-hop culture:\u00a0 \u201cBelieve it or not, the culture provides a blueprint for a system that would enhance public safety and treat all people with respect.\u00a0 Hip-hop has the potential to transform justice in the United States.\u201d\u00a0 Hip-hop culture clearly identifies the unintended consequences of incarceration including the impact on families, especially children.\u00a0 Butler quotes the rapper Makaveli:\u00a0 “My homeboy’s doin life, his baby mama be stressin’ \/ Sheddin tears when her son, finally ask that question \/ Where my daddy at? Mama why we live so poor?”<\/p>\n

According to Butler, hip-hop has three core principles that inform its ideas about justice.\u00a0 The second and third are these:\u00a0 Offenders are human beings who deserve respect and love.\u00a0 Communities are being destroyed by both crime and punishment.<\/p>\n

The first core principle reveals the limitation of Butler’s hip-hop theory of justice from a restorative justice perspective:\u00a0 “..people who harm others should be harmed in return.”\u00a0 Neither Butler or most hip-hop culture questions the fundamental tit-for-tat nature of justice.\u00a0 Nevertheless, we have much to learn by listening to these voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe American criminal justice system is so dysfunctional that it presents well-intentioned people with a dilemma.\u00a0 Should good people cooperate with it?” Paul Butler should know whereof he speaks:\u00a0 he is a former federal prosecutor. Speaking of prison, he says, \u201cThe criminal justice system gives the state a monopoly on exercising that kind of retribution.\u00a0....<\/p>

Read more about Hip-hop justice<\/span><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[4338,4337,4339,4340,234],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restorative-justice","tag-disproportionate-minority-contact-dmc","tag-hip-hop-justice","tag-incarceration","tag-jury-nullification","tag-prisons","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}