1) Capital Punishment: I can sort of thank Julie Borowski for this one. Her video on the subject is well reasoned and worth a watch. I'd like to make it clear, I have no sympathy for violent, unrepentant murderers. None. It is for this reason that I rarely took anti-death penalty arguments seriously. Sure, it costs more than life imprisonment. That was something that could be easily fixed, though. Then I was faced with a staggering statistic: The number of people who have been sentenced to death who are/were completely innocent. That is hard to square, no matter how much you try. But, trudging on, couldn't one fix that problem by requiring that Capital Punishment only be used in cases with clear, objective DNA evidence? Then I realized, I'm doing a lot of mental black flips and proposed policy changes over what? The right of the state to legally murder people? Granted, I do think it's exactly the punishment they deserve, but is that relevant? How can I, a proponent of small government and anti-mob rule, support the idea that a group of 12 people or a government appointed judge can decide if someone lives or dies? I can't. And so, my opinion has changed. Maybe it does suck that unrepentant murderers don't get a 'taste of their own medicine' but is Lethal Injection really that anyway? No. LI is a pretty humane way to go out and it isn't like these people's victims were given such a courtesy. Nothing you do can make up for the damage they have done. But if you save even one innocent person from being murdered by the state, it is worth it.
2) Prison Reform: I wouldn't say I was ever a 'Law and Order' Republican. However, my idealism and lack of life experience did bar me from compassion where criminals were concerned. If they didn't want to go to prison, they probably shouldn't have broken the law, right? Wrong. Let me first say that Orange is the New Black was one of the things that caused me to look into this issue deeper. Yes, it's dramatized. Yes, it's goal is to portray criminals as always the victim. But, you know what? It's full of an assload of truth. Most Americans would be shocked to find out what people can be arrested and imprisoned for. Many of these crimes pose no threat to others and are non-violent offenses. Often, criminals are victims of their circumstances. This is not to say there is no personal responsibility. Even when tempted, choosing to rob someone or cheat the government is your choice and you have to own it. But a criminal justice system that doesn't take circumstance into account is as insane as a zero tolerance drug policy in high school that gets a kid suspended for taking an aspirin.
But more than that, once you are released from prison, you are at a distinct disadvantage. Yes, you've served your time but you 1) have a parole officer on your back demanding you live within an often unrealistic set of rules, 2) have possible fees that you have to pay to the prison upon release while you've been making about 10 cents an hour while inside (if you are lucky), 3) are entering a nearly impossible job market as most will not hire you. Recidivism isn't not about necessarily inability to be good. It has a lot more to do with being set up to fail upon release.
3) Illegal Immigration: No, i still won't call it 'undocumented' Immigration because no matter how much my opinion changes, it is still illegal. No use pretending otherwise. That said, I used to be so staunchly anti-Illegal Immigration that if I could deport every one of the people who dared illegally cross the border, I would have. This is a black and white perspective on a complex issue and I now realize how misguided such a stance was. My position has evolved over time. The more people I met who actually had 'illegal' backgrounds made me realize that those who come illegally and mean no harm probably shouldn't be uprooted from their lives and dropped back into a country that they fled for all kinds of reasons. Still, I had resentment for those who sought to circumvent the rules others are forced to abide. It smacked of entitlement and there is nothing I hate more that someone who feels entitled to someone else's hard work.
Then, my husband (a Canadian) began the process to move to the United States. We've been married five years. We have two American children. He has a profession, loves America, and will be what Trump would call 'productive'. Still, the process cost over $1000 and took nearly a year. If someone with his qualifications had to jump this many hurdles and pay this kind of money to legally come to American even with an American wife and children, how can a poor low-skill worker with no ties to America ever hope to gain access to legal process of immigration? And for these people living in crime riddled countries with no options, how can anyone blame them for circumventing the law to search for a better life for themselves and their families? Back when my ancestors came to America, the process was not so insane. The qualifications were not absurd blazing hoops one must jump through because a pencil pusher somewhere deemed them 'necessary' for public safety and allocation of resources.
I agree that the welfare state compounds this problem. Crossing the border and then having tax payers take care of you is not acceptable. But I also believe most of these people would very much like to support themselves if given the opportunity but laws, as they are, hinder their ability to get jobs that allow them that opportunity. For a moment, invoke Atticus Finch if you can, and put yourself in the perspective of an Illegal Immigrant. Most of us sit on this privileged land merely by luck of birth just as they were born into drug-war torn poverty by cosmic misfortune.
I'm sure, as I learn, grown, and meet more people I'll have my mind changed again. One should never stop learning and reasoning. Don't just get stuck in your ideological sweet spot and stubbornly refuse to change, grow, and learn. Nobody has full access to all the information in the world. New variables or lines of argument can make you question your own beliefs. That's okay. In fact, that's intellectually healthy.
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