A Reflection Paper
Peter asked, “’Lord, how many times shall I
forgive my brother when he sins against me?’ ‘Up
to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not
seven times, but seventy times seven.’”
The article entitled To Blame or to Forgive? Reconciling Punishment
in Criminal Justice written by Lacey and Pickard (2015) explores the role of
forgiveness in the criminal justice system. The article aims to elucidate its
readers that vengeance and forgiveness are universal human adaptations
and that we are intrinsically endowed with both practices. Further it also
clarifies that the act of blaming is inconsistent with political values and
likewise counter-productive. The aim of this article is to educate its readers
that everyone deserves respect and equality ideally accrue to all, and that
the aim of penal philosophy should be to restore offenders as full
participant members of our society and repair the rupture to all that criminal
offending creates.
The article is composed of seven parts, to wit: (i) Introduction; (ii)
Taking the Clinical Model of Responsibility Without Blame into the Legal
Realm; (iii) The Meaning of Forgiveness; (iv) The Evolutionary Psychology
of Forgiveness; (v) From Instrumental to Ethical Reasons to Punish with
Forgiveness; (vi) Punishment with Forgiveness: Creating Institutions and
Practices that ‘Wipe The Slate Clean’; and (vii) Conclusion.
Consistent with its title, the article opens with the question, “What do
you do when faced with wrongdoing—do you blame or do you forgive?” It
then proceeds by stating that humans have the natural tendency to feel a
range of hostile, negative emotions e.g., hate, anger, resentment,
indignation, disgust, contempt and scorn towards the perpetrator. Arguably,
we judge the perpetrators harshly, condemn their character, and at the
back of minds we think that they too deserve to suffer inasmuch as their
victims have suffered in their hands.
Foremost, take the recent case of Christine Dacera wherein 11 men
were charged with rape and murder after she was found dead at noon on
January 1st in the bathtub of her hotel room. Initially, forensics investigation
suggested that Dacera had been sexually abused. “The victim had
lacerations and sperm in her genitalia,” Makati City Police Chief Col. Harold
Depositar told the media. He added that there were also bruises,
contusions, and scratches on her arms and legs, and that her death may
have been caused by an aneurysm. POLICE ARE WAITING FOR
AUTOPSY RESULTS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND MORE CLEARLY
HOW SHE DIED.
However, social media did not await for the results of the autopsy.
From the traditional trial procedures to trial by publicity to trial by social
media, everyone became an expert in toxicology and became associate
justices overnight upon hearing the alleged rape-slay case of Dacera.
Netizens were quick to judge even without checking the facts. Those 11
individuals who were suspected to be responsible for the death of Dacera
were judged harshly, just because the police reported that they might be
the persons behind the rape-slay case. Undeniably, social media became a
platform or tool that spread false accusations and baseless conclusions. It
should be understood that social media is not the Supreme Court of the
Philippines and we are not justices to decide what verdict to give.
Further, one of the saddest thing about this case was that the police
had released incomplete information on the case when they declared
Dacera a victim of rape and homicide, even though they had yet to
apprehend and obtain testimonies from at least 9 suspects who remain at
large. It triggered groups particularly Kasama Ka sa Paglikha ng Arte at
Literatura Para sa Bayan (KALikha) to criticize the PNP for their "reckless
statements and careless handling" of Dacera's case. They stated among
others that, "It is the burden of the PNP to prove the facts of the case and
be held accountable for prematurely releasing a report that is incomplete
and inconclusive. We demand the PNP to be sensitive and give respect to
the grieving family as they handle and release further information regarding
the case. By concluding that a case is already solved without providing
clear evidence and being able to take into custody all persons of interest is
a gross violation of due process and is a further injustice to Christine's
death.” Indeed, the PNP needs to be transparent, thorough, and prudent
before releasing inflammatory statements. Likewise, justice should be given
both to Christine Dacera and the accused.
Another timely case that resonate how humans can be so hateful and
quick to judge sometimes is the case of Senior Master Sergeant Jonel
Nuezca. Apparently, the shooting incident was caught on camera and the
video is now viral on social media. The policeman can be seen with his
young daughter in a heated discussion with an unarmed Frank Anthony,
whose mother was holding him back. Nuezca’s daughter then said “my
father is a policeman.” Thereafter, Frank’s mother, Sonya, retorted “I don’t
care,” copying the Korean group who sang this song. This enraged the
Nuezca and threatened to kill Sonya before shooting her point-blank in the
head. He then proceeded to shoot Frank Anthony twice, before firing at
Sonya once again who was already on the ground.
Nuezca, a Parañaque police officer, faced two counts of murder for
fatally shooting his unarmed neighbors in Paniqui, Tarlac. The death of a
mother and son ignited series of bullying to the daughter and the entire
PNP organization was dragged to hell once again.
“My father is a policeman.” This statement spoken by the daughter
had triggered so much hate, bashing, and bullying. She had been labelled
as wicked, entitled little brat by the netizens. A netizen once wrote, “If she
acted as a child, the mother and son would still be alive. This is a little
demon that deserves to rot in hell too with her big stupid mouth.” Even
Kyline Alcantara, a young actress, express her anger and wrote, “No, hija.
Your father is a criminal, and you’re a little spoiled brat who knows how to
speak English, but doesn’t know right manners.”
But little did they know that the 13-year-old daughter are exhibiting
signs of trauma. DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao underscored that the
daughter of Staff Sgt. Jonel Nuezca and other witnesses of the Tarlac
shooting have been traumatized because of the incident. Dumlao said that
the department has begun providing psychosocial interventions and
debriefing to Nuezca's daughter to help her cope and recover from the
traumatic experience. She also appealed to the public to refrain from
cyberbullying the child.
The cases cited exemplified how we as members in the society often
judge harshly and become profoundly hostile to perpetrators. Admittedly, it
is difficult to forgive when somebody committed wrong against you or the
fact that you are still hurting. But at the end of the day, what we ultimately
want is peace. And there can be no peace if there is still hate. As they say,
if you want to be the bigger person in the picture, you need to put your hate
and anger in the backseat. And let the One be the judge.
Secondly, the article tackles the meaning of forgiveness in the
context of penal philosophy. The authors then delineated forgiveness from
mercy.
Forgiveness is often allied with a range of
emotions and reactive attitudes that express
goodwill or positive regard, such as compassion,
empathy, kindness, clemency and mercy. Mercy
is a possible sentiment only for those with power
and authority, exercised necessarily de haut en
bas.
Forgiveness plays a crucial part not just in restorative justice, but
almost all aspects in our lives. “If crime harms people, justice should be a
search to make things right to and between people…. If crime is injury,
justice will repair injuries and promote healing. Acts of restoration, does not
harm, but counter balance the harm of crime” (Zehr, 2005.) Although,
forgiveness and reconciliation is not a primary principle in restorative justice
since there is no pressure to restore strained relationship between victims
and offenders.
Take the infamous case of Chris Watts. On August 13, 2018,
Colorado father Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts,
and their two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. Watts,
who started having an affair with another woman, lavished his paramour
with jewelry and booked expensive vacation hotel whilst his wife was
sending him text messages about marriage reconciliation. According to
investigations, Watts admitted that he and his wife had an altercation which
drove him to commit such heinous act. He confessed in a prison interview
that his daughters were still alive when he put his dead wife’s body in his
truck and drove his family to the oil field where all three bodies were found.
These sent shockwaves not only in America but also in the international
headlines. Two years after, Netflix made a documentary out of this chilling
incident, American Murder: The Family Next Door.
Chris Watts had pleaded guilty to all charges against him, and in
exchange, prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty. Meanwhile, Judge
Marcelo Kopcow called the murders in a north Denver suburb "the most
inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of
cases that I have seen."
No matter how despicable and inhumane Watt’s actions were, his
family forgave him still. Ronnie, Chris’ father, said at his son’s trial, "The
Bible says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive
us. Chris, I forgive you and your sister forgives you and we will never
abandon you." Cindy, Chris’ mother, likewise said at her son’s trial, “I have
always loved you and I still do. We love you and forgive you son.”
Moreover, their attorney read a letter that said, “We are not here to ask for
leniency and are not in any way condoning or tolerating the crime that has
occurred or the pain that has been caused…”
The Watt’s murder was indeed tragic and unthinkable to some
stretch. Inasmuch that we want to hate Chris Watts, the father who
annihilated his family, sadly no amount of hate and anger can bring back
the four lives that had been wasted. I firmly believe that Chris Watts is a
human being who deserves forgiveness. Just like his parents hoped,
forgiveness will bring peace and healing to those who have been bereaved
by such tragic loss.
As a parent myself, I can certainly understand where they are coming
from. No matter how bad or unacceptable the actions of our children are,
we always love them unconditionally. As a parent, we are hard-wired to
love and forgive our children. However, just like any decent human being,
we would be devasted and horrified if our children violated the law. We
would still care for them, but we expect them to be held accountable
nonetheless. And I feel that this is what Chris’ parents did, to forgive him
and to acknowledge that he had done wrong. Maya
Another case was Maya Angelou’s rape incident. In her book entitled
I know why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she anthologized how hard it was
to be a rape survivor and to rise in a culture of racism and sexism. The late
author Maya Angelou shocked the world with her groundbreaking 1969
memoir where she narrated that being a black girl who grew up in a racist
and sexist Depression-era South, was raped at a young age by her
mother's boyfriend and was traumatized so badly by the experience that
she stopped talking to everyone except her brother for five years. Despite
all the hardships, she said in one of her many interviews, it is only in
forgiveness we find solace and peace. She skillfully suggested that in
forgiveness, one finds renewal and healing.
Some of us confuse forgiveness with condoning
unkind actions. There are those who think that we
forgive in order to repair the relationship with the
offender. Some of us are afraid to forgive because
we think we will not be able to seek justice. Some
think that forgiveness has to be a precursor to
reconciliation. Some of us think that forgiveness
means we forget what happened. Others of us
think that because our religion says we should
forgive we have to be able to. Each of these
conceptions is wrong (Luskin, 2003).
Thirdly, the authors talk about Punishment with Forgiveness. It
forwards the notion that forgiveness ought to be granted only after the
offender has taken the initiative to apologize in full—they have repented,
suffered, and atoned. In the article it was expressed that repentance is
necessary for redemption. More so, it was also asked, “What can the
criminal justice system do to encourage offenders to participate in a
reparative process?”
As I read the question, I began to contemplate. As a dutiful and
obedient citizen, we asked the State to punish and incarcerate those who
violate the law. But we seldom stop and think whether our criminal justice
system and penal facilities are working. Similar to the sentiments of the
authors, it is important that the system must offer an invitation to the
offender to acknowledge their wrongdoing and help to fashion a sentence
in a way that creates the opportunity to move forward in their lives—to be
forgiven if they will do their part in making a better future for themselves
and for others. It is of paramount importance that offenders will make an
introspection of their past actions because it is only in guilt, regret, and
remorse that they can make sense of the damage they have caused to
others (Lacey & Pickard, 2015).
To top it over, forgiveness and acknowledgement serve as tipping
point in restorative and rehabilitative justice. At one point, we have to stop
pointing our fingers to the perpetrators, but rather forgive them for violating
the laws of the land. Thus, letting go of our resentment does not
necessarily mean absolving the offender from his wrong, but rather
accepting that things that we could not fathom sometimes do exist. It is only
in forgiveness that one finds healing and reconciliation.
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