Punishment or

rehabilitation?

   I’ve often debated with myself about what the ultimate focus of the treatment of criminals should be - punishment, or rehabilitation?
  A case that recently hit the news columns illustrates how the emphasis would change the life of Marie Walsh. 
  She was in jail in Michigan on a drug charge and given a maximum sentence of 20 years. She claims now that she pleaded guilty to the charge because she was told that she would be placed on probation. Officers on the case deny it. 
  Anyway, that’s not the issue here. There is a connection to Cass City because a brother lives here. He hadn’t heard from her in the 32 years since she broke out of jail after a year and fled to California. That’s not the issue either.
  Today jails are overflowing and convicted criminals, including some with serious semi-life threatening offenses, are paroled early because their jail population exceeds the legal limit.
  If you feel that the primary focus of jail sentencing should be rehabilitation, then without a doubt Walsh, who was sentenced to 10 to 20 years, should be placed on probation.
  With her husband of 23 years, she raised 3 children under the name of Marie Walsh. 
  Now 53 years old, she has not been arrested for any other criminal activity when she was jailed pending a return to Michigan. 
  If further investigation doesn’t reveal any other illegal activity, it’s safe to assume that she is no threat to society.
  The only issue that remains is should the now-respected citizen be punished because she was involved with heroine when 19 years old?
  Seldom has there been a case as clear-cut as this one. A parolee or a forced release from jail can put persons on the street that really aren’t reformed. 
  There appears to be no danger of that with Walsh. So it comes down to how you feel about the justice system.
  Should she be made to pay more for her past misdeeds, or be allowed to return to the life that she successfully led in California?
  In this particular case I can see no merit in adding to Michigan’s crowded jails by adding another inmate who has been a productive citizen for 32 years.