Before I begin, I'm aware that terms like Innocent, Guilty, and Victim ring fairly hollow when thrown around between the NCAA who makes billions off of college athletes, the Big Ten which makes hundreds of millions, and the coaches who are making tens of millions. That being said, perhaps this crazy saga of the University of Michigan cheating scandal and its coach Jim Harbaugh can open our eyes just a little to how these issues play out when a high school dropout is charged with a crime, doesn't have the money to make bail, and has to rely upon a public defender.
For those of you who aren't aware, the University of Michigan yesterday dropped its effort to sue the Big Ten over the suspension of coach Harbaugh after having called it "insulting" and "unethical" in previous public statement. They shouted that their guy was a victim and this whole thing a conspiracy of a witch hunt, and then they did the equivalent of taking a plea and accepting the lighter punishment that was on the table. I don't really care why they made that choice, whether or not they had evidence that this would only get worse as long as the light was shining on the case, or even whether or not Jim Harbaugh knew about the scheme in the first place. The point is, they had public opinion, Michigan politicians, and high priced lawyers on their side, and they still folded. That ought to be instructive to us.
What you think about the criminal justice system and those charged with crimes probably isn't true.
At least not fully, there's more going on most of the time, certainly more than the politicians and pundits shouting about the issue are willing to tell you.
There are a lot of people who find themselves in the middle between "fully innocent" and "completely guilty." When the choice they face is between decades in jail of a judge or jury convicts them and a plea that will only cost a few years, it is inevitable that a significant portion of them will plead guilty, even if they're not guilty.
Fixing the criminal justice system is a massive undertaking, on some level it will always have these flaws, and while it is entirely noble to fight injustice and push for honest reform, I'm also concerned with the larger issues of power, justice, mercy, and forgiveness. Why? Because Jesus was.
One day Jesus was confronted by the ugly truth of a criminal justice system that was clearly corrupt. He was asked to choose between the authorities and a perpetrator. His critics thought they could use whichever side he picked as fodder to discredit him. They were wrong. They were wrong because Jesus saw clearly that the whole situation was impure, that their was guilt to be found on both sides, and so he chose a new path. The following account from the Gospel of John illustrates Jesus' solution:
John 8:3-11 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus chose a better way forward, a way that contained both love and repentance from sin. A way that actually fulfilled that line we say without really knowing what it means to do it, "Hate the sin, love the sinner." I don't have a snappy plan for how we can apply this lesson to the criminal justice system in America, but I hope that the next time I interact with someone who has a criminal record, or just a more difficult past or present set of circumstances than my own, I act more like Jesus toward him/her than like the Pharisees.
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