Empathy In Criminal Justice Essay

The Role of Empathy in the Justice System The justice system plays a very important role in the lives of all American citizens. Though it is known as being a strict set of rules, considerations must be made in order to make sure that justice considers the situation of an individual. With this in mind, many have begun to question the role of empathy in the justice system, and if it should even have a role at all. In his book, “Just Mercy”, lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson does just that. Stevenson, and many others, have concluded that the modern justice system lacks the empathy which is necessary to maintain fairness and justice within society. Empathy, within the justice system, should be a tool used to maintain

A major demographic of people that are being treated unfairly within the justice system are the mentally ill. Because of the modern lack of empathy within the system, those suffering from mental illness are not receiving the treatment and care that they need, which is limiting the justice that the system is producing. Mental illness is rarely considered when assessing crime, and this has led to large quantities of prisoners being mentally ill. In “Just Mercy”, Stevenson says, “America’s prisons have become warehouses for the mentally ill” (Stevenson 186). Because courts have a lack of empathy regarding the mentally ill, these people are being piled up in prisons, making up the majority of the population. Not only does this lead to prisons being dangerous, dirty, and overcrowded, but

Many of the people who are in prison were sent there as a child, and every day children are being tried as adults. In “Just Mercy”, Stevenson addresses this by saying “we treat some of the most at-risk, neglected, and impaired children exactly the same as full-grown adults in the criminal justice system” (Stevenson 270). Because of the immense prevelance of this concept, it is made more clear that this is a problem. Children, who are not fully developed mentally, are being held to the same standards of law as adults. With the use of empathy, and considering the many aspects of childhood, many of the cases prolonging peoples’ stay in prison could be prevented. In her essay, “The Irrationality of Life Sentences”, Jennifer Lackey shares that there are biological factors that contribute to a child’s differing thought processes. She says that “the prefrontal cortex of the brains of adolescents is still developing, and so they are more likely than adults to act on impulse, engage in dangerous or risky behavior, and misread social cues and emotions” (Lackey 1089). These biological differences, and the childhood lack of brain development, are causes for children to commit crime. Though they do not excuse the behavior, they should be taken into account empathetically. If these aspects were to be taken into further consideration in the future, the