Crime, punishment and practical wisdom

WISDOM: Practical wisdom is never taught in the universities. We learn everything other than practical wisdom, which sometime runs contrary to the theories we learnt at the university.

It is said, other than the teachers of main religions, the wisest man to set foot upon the Earth was Socrates. He challenged the wisest men - scientists, artists, philosophers and artisans alike - who lived in Athens at that time. None of them knew what 'they did not know'.

Socrates finally decided that he was the wisest of all. Why? He was the only person living in Athens who knew that 'He did not Know'.

Socrates, unlike some of our potty, pedantic, cocky, conceited men of learning, from universities here and abroad, never went to university. He was a carpenter's son. The entire western thinking and philosophy was based on this man's practical wisdom. He was a wise man.

Today, the public are confused by various theories and philosophies. The people know that there are flaws in these theories but are afraid to express themselves. When these theories are put into practice, the result is chaos and confusion.

As a result, it is worse than the original position the people were in. Therefore, if there is anyone who can exhibit even an iota of practical wisdom, I will bow my head.

A few days ago I saw, on TV, Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva in command of a brigade of prisoners, who were cleaning the railway track from Bambalapitiya to Wellawatta. These prisoners had been convicted in petty cases, mainly known as pot arrack cases and similar offences.

Furthermore, these people, who had been fined by the respective courts, had agreed to perform Voluntary Community Service, in lieu of the fine. Though community service has been provided for, in the statute book, it was a late innovation, borrowed from other countries.

A man with practical wisdom soon realised the importance of this scheme and its benefits to the people at large. The fact of the matter is, though there are laws, which are useful in the statute book, these laws become dead immediately after birth.

No one is interested in making these laws operative. The need of the hour is a person, with practical wisdom, who is able to see beyond his nose or his compartment or his ivory tower and walk on the streets to learn from the University of Life. They are the people who change the face of society.

If you look around, you find people grumbling of the inefficient, inept bureaucracy of the police, the courts, lawyers, doctors and government servants as a whole.

But they keep on accusing and condemning the bureaucracy of political leadership, but yet do nothing to alleviate this situation. They are people of no initiative or wisdom. Only a man with practical wisdom, who is in power, will be able to find a solution to these woes.

We have in the past swallowed hook line and sinker the bad precedents of our colonial system, but have thrown overboard the good that our colonial masters taught us.

The colonial system had laws, established in the country, mainly to preserve the Colonial status, which permitted them to administer the country with ease. First, the Police Courts and the Magistrate's Court came into being to protect the Crown and the Colony.

The criminals were punished. Today if you walk into any prison, you find that the prisons are over-crowded and bursting at the seams.

The situation is so bad that the Prisons Commissioner has requested security from the Government. Certain prisons have more than ten times the number of prisoners they could accommodate.

Many prisoners are people who have been convicted for minor offences. There are many prisoners who are unable to find the money to pay the fine. Others are remand prisoners, who are unable to deposit bail.

The State, more often than not, pays more for the upkeep of the prisoners than the sum total of the fines or the bail moneys that have to be deposited.

The present scheme of community service provides an opportunity for the convict to opt for community service in lieu of paying the fine.

The prisoners who do so are released on bail and are obliged to report to the Registrar, or any other officer, who will assign them work, like cleaning the Court premises and other unskilled labour.

Unfortunately, though this is an excellent scheme, I do not think there is infrastructure in place to make it work properly. The Chief Justice was taking time off from his busy schedule to find out whether this scheme was working according to the stipulations.

He was one who always supported progressive schemes which would eventually help the community at large. The question is whether on other days it is implemented successfully or whether bureaucratic inefficiency creeps in and nothing is done.

But in other countries, especially the USA, the punishment is comparable to the crime committed. A person who has committed a minor crime, known as a misdemeanour, has to attend a rehabilitation center and work according to a programme of its director.

The US has drawn up an excellent programme, drawing resources from all over the world, for rehabilitating prisoners. They have adopted and modified those schemes to suit US conditions.

A person, who has committed a misdemeanour, or even a felony, is sent on probation, requested to do community service, depending on the nature of the offence and the extenuating circumstances in which the crime was committed. The Parole system is worthy of emulation.

In Sri Lanka, prisoners receive clemency and pardon mainly on their behaviour in prison. But, after release, on serving his term, he is free to act. In the US, depending on the nature of the crime and the length of time in prison, a prisoner could apply for parole long before his sentence is completed. He is paroled by the Board and released, but has to regularly report to a rehabilitation center.

In the US, criminals and those under probation are thoroughly monitored by these centers. The parolee undertakes to even abstain from alcohol. They have to pay the Center from their own money to undergo various blood tests to analyze for traces of alcohol and drugs.

If they violate these conditions, an enhanced prison sentence awaits them. If the convicts are reported to be alcoholics, their behaviour is also monitored. Attitude, temper and behaviourial patterns are checked.

The centre also acts as an employment and skills training institute. Physical and mental therapy is administered to these prisoners so that within the shortest possible time they are rehabilitated. Often, these prisoners become good citizens.

The Christian virtues of love and kindness are vigorously imparted. If the Centre discovers even a minor violation of the conditions upon which the accused was released, he is first warned, then, if the same condition persists, he is sentenced to prison.

The scheme of rehabilitation of convicts is a very important part of community service. They have to lay bricks, clean the chimneys, paint walls and windows of houses, work and undergo rigorous physical and mental exercises and drills to make them physically and mentally fit.

Of course, the US has sufficient resources to continue with this programme. Sri Lanka, being a Third World country, has no such resources.

But, if one analyses the amount of money the Government spends to upkeep prisoners, which only creates opportunities for these unfortunate people to come in contact with hardcore criminals, one would objectively perceive the necessity and the goodness of allocating sufficient funds, from the Treasury, to develop a scheme where prisons become depleted, while the prisoners go home and help the family and community at large by indulging in community service.

In Sri Lanka, with the Administration of Justice Law and the introduction of the suspended system, criminals were able to go scot free, after pleading guilty.

They are given suspended jail terms. This was one scheme introduced by another politician with a practical wisdom, but yet went awry. The Suspended sentence system should be abolished as it has resulted in the growth of crime. AJL did away with the active role played by probation officers.

When an accused, who had committed an offence under extenuating circumstances, was charged, a probation report was called for and if recommended, the accused was released on probation. Before the judge considers probation, the offenders were asked to report to the Probation office.

Thereafter, a detailed report was filed by the officer, having visited the house of the accused. The report would contain, the family background and other circumstances which mitigates for and against probation.

The judges were then of the view that prisons should be welcome only to those who deserves it. Others should be released to their respective families so that the probation officers would supervise them and make an effort to rehabilitate them.

The accused were constantly monitored so that they had no escape from the grip of these officers. Today, probation officers mainly file reports about children who are victims of crime.

In developed countries, like the US, Correctional Treatment Specialists work in jails, prisons or parole and probation agencies.

In jails and prisons, they evaluate the progress of the inmates. Continuous reporting and monitoring systems enable them to file reports on when their clients are eligible for release. Correctional Treatment Specialists work with these agencies and make their task easy.

In fact, in Sri Lanka there is no effective parole system. Prisoners obtain release and their term is reduced on their good behaviour in prison. Once released from prison, there is no effective supervision or control.

If the prison term could be reduced and a parole system introduced, it will lessen the burden of the State and permit the probation officers to act as parole agents and supervise the prisoners. These schemes can be discussed till the cows come home.

But one thing all of us can be pretty sure of is that if the Government is pushed by some one to act progressively, the officials would be the ultimate beneficiaries.

They will go abroad to study the many aspects of a scheme, then come back and do nothing. Only when the person in charge has practical wisdom and the power, then only will matters begin to move.

The punishment must befit the Crime. It was only a few years ago that the people, almost without a division, demonstrated calling for the society to punish convicted murderers by hanging them.

The Private and the state media was all for it. We heard and read about the hangman. Then we were told that the rope was in tatters and a new rope would have to be imported at a cost of thousands of dollars. Others, who opposed capital punishment, opined that the whole scheme of hanging was medieval and barbaric.

If one insisted on capital punishment, then a more civilised form was the need. The latest method was where the murderer was given a lethal injection, which stops the heartbeat within seconds and therefore is less painful. But this was only hogwash to deceive the people. The human rights activist shouted.

Some NGOs got fat cheques from donors to fight the evil of capital punishment. 'On what basis can the government commit murder,' they shouted. Like his Constitution, JRJ's thinking on capital punishment remained unchanged.

'We have formed a Dharmishta Government and in it there is no room for Capital Punishment,' JRJ thundered. When Chandrika told everyone that she would re introduce the 'Ellun Gaha" the murderers in the death row urinated uncontrollably. Such was the fear.

Suddenly the "Pathalaya" went underground. For two or three weeks no one was killed. Even the bus drivers obeyed the traffic laws and respected the pedestrians. They drove on the road instead of on the pavements killing pedestrians. Why? Somebody had spread a rumour that Chandrika was to hang even the bus drivers for killing innocent pedestrians.

When finally the light dawned, the gullible, who believed in Chandrika, found that she had mislead everyone, including the Chief Justice and the high and mighty of the Bar Association. Rope or no rope, injections or no injections, no one would be hung. Killings started. A person with practical wisdom is the need of the hour.

I believe, after 'Premadasa', the one leader with practical wisdom is 'Mahinda'. Premadasa knew that cricket should not be played or the great Stupas should not be painted during the 'Vas' Season.

Likewise, Mahinda has realised that war should be fought by the Military not by politicians as was done before. Similarly, Chief Justice Sarath N, Silva's practical wisdom has taught him that prisoners should not be fed by the State but ought to be made to be earn their keep, by doing community work, in order that they will be a benefit to society.

We expect these two persons who are with us, endowed with practical wisdom to change laws that will ensure that prisons are not over crowded and where Prisoners would be given an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves and be released only on conditions. We expect that probation officers would be given added responsibilities and the murder convicts are hanged!