“Go, and Sin No More” APPLYING THE LORD ’ S MODEL IN MAN ’ S CRIMINAL JUSTICE DECISION MAKING Keith N. Hamilton, ’86, received love Brigham Young fault. The faculty, the staff, When I graduated from the 2012 byu Alumni Achieve- University, its alumni and my fellow students were this law school and entered ment Award for J. Reuben Clark association, and J. Reu- wonderful in their attempts to into active-duty service with Law School. Admitted to byu ben Clark Law School make me feel as comfortable the u.s. Navy jag, I did not Law School in 1981 after his bap- with all my heart, and as possible while I underwent have much desire to return to tism in 1980, Keith’s place was II cherish my associations with the difficult and grueling Provo beyond coming back for deferred until 1983 so he could so many great and wonderful course of study that is the law. the occasional visit with the serve a mission. He practices people related to each entity. I express my sincere gratitude Hansens and for special occur- law in Salt Lake City and has After delaying matriculation and appreciation to them rences at the Law School, such served as a member and chair of into the Law School to serve a for all that they did for me in as class reunions. But at the the Utah Board of Pardons and mission, I attended classes in making a very demanding and urging of then byu president Parole and as a member of the this building from 1983 until challenging time much more Rex E. Lee, who, as former governor’s cabinet. He has served 1986. For the most part it was a enjoyable and considerably dean of the Law School, was as a branch president, bishop, very lonely and difficult expe- less burdensome. I particularly instrumental in my admit- and temple worker. Keith is the rience for me as the first and wish to publicly express my tance here, in 1993 I returned author of the book Last Laborer: only black student at the Law love and gratitude to Reese and to byu with my young family Thoughts and Reflections of a School during my three-year Kathryn Hansen, who loved, to accept a position within the Black Mormon. Following are tenure. I never let on to oth- fed, sheltered, guided, and university’s alumni association. excerpts from his talk given to ers how difficult it was for me, mentored me through my law From 1993 to 1996 I worked for law students on October 16, 2012. because I knew it wasn’t their school years and since. the Alumni Association, which 38 clark memorandum While retribution While retribution has been » “Since 1980, the federal long accepted by the general prison population has grown has been long public as a key punishment almost 800 percent.”6 accepted by the oriented for public safety, many criminal justice thinkers » “Since 2002, the United general public and practitioners and most States has had the highest as a key punish- social scientists and theorists incarceration rate in the world. have long regarded it as the Although prison populations ment oriented “least accepted” theory of pun- are increasing in some parts of for public safety, ishment. However, “[retribu- the world, the natural rate tion] is suddenly being seen by of incarceration for countries many criminal thinkers of all political persua- comparable to the United justice thinkers sions as perhaps the strongest States tends to stay around ground, after all, upon which 100 prisoners per 100,000 and practitioners to base a system of punish- population.”7 Experts tend and most social ment.”2 to agree that, based upon the There is no doubt that retri- method of calculation, the u.s. scientists and bution is now the predominant rate is somewhere between theorists have theory of punishment utilized 500 and 755 prisoners per in the decision-making process 100,000 residents.8 long regarded of those who make, enforce, it as the “least and carry out the laws regard- » Huffington Post writers ing punishment within the Nake M. Kamrany and Ryan J. accepted” theory criminal justice systems of the Boyd note that the United of punishment. United States. I have gathered States “incarcerates 753 per the following statistics from 100,000” and that “compa- various sources as evidence: rable European figures include 153 for England, 96 for France, » “The United States is the 92 for Italy, 66 for Denmark “Go, and Sin No More” world’s leader in incarceration and 90 for Germany. Over with [2.3] million people cur- the past forty years the number APPLYING THE LORD ’ S MODEL IN MAN ’ S CRIMINAL JUSTICE DECISION MAKING rently in the nation’s prisons or of incarcerated people [in the jails—a 500% increase over the United States] has increased past thirty years.”3 350 percent while population allowed me to establish lasting offenders. Of the various increased 33 percent, violent relationships with many more purposes for punishment— » “China, which is four crimes rose 3 percent higher people associated with the uni- general deterrence, specific times more populous than the than 1980 while property versity beyond my Law School or particular deterrence, inca- United States, is a distant sec- crimes dropped from 496.1 per associations. pacitation or restraint, reha- ond, with 1.6 million people in 1,000 in 1980 to 134.7 in 2008, I now will share a few bilitation or reformation, and prison. (That number excludes according to the Bureau of Jus- thoughts about something retribution—retribution has hundreds of thousands of tice Statistics.”9 for which I have more pas- become the primary purpose people held in administrative sion than even byu or the Law for sentencing, law making, detention, most of them in » “According to data main- School: the administration of and decision making within China’s extrajudicial system tained by the International criminal justice and particu- the United States. “Retribu- of re-education through labor, Center for Prison Studies at larly the way punishment is tion . is the oldest theory which often singles out politi- King’s College London, [the meted out against criminally of punishment, and the one cal activists who have not com- United States] has 751 people convicted persons in the which still commands con- mitted crimes.)”4 in prison or jail for every United States. Since my initial siderable respect from the 100,000 in population. (If you foray into the world of criminal general public.”1 Its roots stem » “The United States has count only adults, one in 100 justice some 35 years ago, our from the Mosaic practice of less than 5 percent of the Americans is locked up.) The criminal justice system has “an eye for an eye, and a tooth world’s population. But it has only other major industrialized become increasingly punitive for a tooth” (3 Nephi 12:38; almost a quarter of the world’s nation that even comes close is and harsh toward adult criminal see Exodus 21:24). prisoners.”5 Russia, with 627 prisoners for clark memorandum 39 translates into the low incar- America’s current ceration rate within Utah. As far as criminal justice practice of retribu- decision making in Utah goes, tive justice and I am becoming alarmed at what I believe is a departure its exorbitant rates from Christlike attributes of incarceration by many criminal justice law makers and decision makers are throwing away in favor of more punitive laws too many of those and other decisions that result in the destruction of lives and lives precious in the costly burdens placed upon sight of God. our governments and com- munities. It’s easy to ask and answer the question “What would Jesus do?” I believe the much more pertinent question to ask is “What would Jesus have us do?”—an even harder question to answer on an indi- vidual basis. In His appearance to the Nephites following His Resur- rection and ascension to heaven, every 100,000 people. for those in their 20s and early per 100,000 and is the state Jesus taught that He had ful- The others have much lower 30s. Prisoners also tend to be with the lowest incarceration filled the law of Moses, includ- rates. England’s rate is 151; less educated: The average rate of all Mountain West and ing the law’s “an eye for an Germany’s is 88; and Japan’s state prisoner has a 10th-grade western states.16 eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is 63. The median among all education, and about 70 per- Since I began practicing requirement, saying, “Behold, nations is about 125, roughly a cent have not completed high law in Utah I have pondered I am he that gave the law, and I sixth of the American rate.”10 school.”14 why Utah’s incarceration am he who covenanted with rate is so much lower than its my people Israel; therefore, the » “In addition to overall All these statistics boil neighboring states and than law in me is fulfilled, for I have incarceration rates, the United down to the fact that because many other states in which come to fulfil the law; therefore States is also leading in rates of its sentencing policies, “the the majority of the electorate it hath an end” (3 Nephi 15:5). of female incarceration. In the United States is the world’s share similar political views, He taught His disciples that United States, women make leader in incarceration,” result- particularly the Southern “whosoever shall smite thee up more than one-tenth of the ing “in prison overcrowding states, whose incarceration on thy right cheek, turn to him whole prison population.