23 Profile Essay

Local Policies Can Make a Difference
By Jared Smith

Low-income Americans did not receive any or enough legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems (Legal Services Corporation). Byron Mclean is a personal injury attorney out of Spokane, Washington. I have known Byron for a couple of months because he is a family friend of my father’s. Byron agreed to be interviewed about the criminal justice system a couple of weeks ago. Byron believes that the justice system was made to make the general public safe and protected.

First, Byron believes the criminal justice system was designed to make people feel safe and take known threats and remove them from society. He says that the criminal justice system when it works is one that enforces laws and gives an appropriate sentence based on the type and degree of crime committed and respects constitutional rights of the accused. However, he also says, “The system is as fair as the system can get and should be, but sometimes it isn’t in the way it is applied.” Sometimes people can get unfair trials and opinions that are biased against them.

Secondly, Byron has strong opinions about the penalties that are applied as part of the criminal justice system even though he hasn’t had any personal experience with the system. He said, “The justice system is unfair when an offense or crime where the punishment where a maximum sentence is given but only needed is the minimum or fines.” He also said that incarceration should be avoided for nonviolent crimes. When it comes to recidivism, he has additional thoughts. According to the National Institute of Justice, recidivism refers to a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime. He thinks it’s hard to predict whether someone will go back into prison. It depends on the person’s rap sheet and charges that the person has had in the past.

Thirdly, Byron thinks that politics can play a large part in the criminal justice system. Some people think that paying officers more will help them care more about their job. But according to Byron, he does not think that paying people who work in the criminal justice system more would work because if they are not dedicated to their job already, then the money won’t help them change how they feel about their job. Also, when it comes to making major reforms to the system, some reforms of the prison system should be only for those of violent offenses. And finally, he said the voting public needs to get more educated about the candidates and vote better people into law enforcement positions. He thinks local policies can change how laws are upheld and enforced.

While I talked to Byron, I learned about all of his opinions about the criminal justice system and what he believes needs to be changed. One of the things is that he thinks we need to stop incarcerating people involved in nonviolent crimes and that politics play a huge role in the justice system. He also believes that the justice system was made to get the known threats and dangerous people off the streets and out of polite society.

Works Cited

Legal Services Corporation. “The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-income Americans.” The Justice Gap Report, 28 Apr. 2022, justicegap.lsc.gov/#:~:text=Nearly%20one-half%20(46%)%20of%20those%20who%20did%20not%20seek%20legal. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

McLean, Byron. Personal interview. 24 Sept. 2024.

National Institute of Justice. “Recidivism.” National Institute of Justice, nij.ojp.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism.