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The American system of criminal law and punishment is racist, classist, destructive, and ineffective in preventing harm and promoting justice. This isn’t an extreme view, nor is it a secret. Indeed, more than half of the country has concluded that aspects of our system of punishment are unfair according to recent polling. Nonetheless, many Americans reflexively seek out punitive interventions in response to vexing social problems. We operate in a realm of dissonance recognizing in the abstract the dysfunction and cruelty of the system, but also endorse criminal interventions in support of the social goals we support. These complicated, contradictory views about the system of law, policing, and imprisonment have been, until quite recently, relatively unexamined. This book encourages reflection on these complex issues of progressive carceralism.
Many animal lawyers react to critiques of carceral animal law by contending that punishment is no longer a priority, and that there are only but a handful of anecdotes about over-charging. One might listen to animal lawyers who support criminal interventions and conclude that incarceration is no longer a priority. But a critique of incarceration alone was never the point, and such a framing would actually let the movement off too easy. Prosecutions that do not result in sentences of imprisonment, under this logic, are examples of the merciful progression of animal law. This chapter focuses attention on the other-than-incarceration efforts that might be incorrectly conflated with leniency and just outcomes by animal advocates. Recognizing that for many of our readers, it will sound ridiculous to suggest that police interventions that do not lead to incarceration can be an over-reaction to animal crimes. Thus, a substantial portion of the chapter is comprised of short vignettes that describe the role of police in animal protection efforts that do not involve incarceration. These examples are not exhaustive, but they provide a foundation for thinking about how policing and prosecution that does not result in incarceration or even a conviction can be affirmatively bad for animals.
Carceral logics permeate our thinking about humans and nonhumans. We imagine that greater punishment will reduce crime and make society safer. We hope that more convictions and policing for animal crimes will keep animals safe and elevate their social status. The dominant approach to human-animal relations is governed by an unjust imbalance of power that subordinates or ignores the interest nonhumans have in freedom. In this volume Lori Gruen and Justin Marceau invite experts to provide insights into the complicated intersection of issues that arise in thinking about animal law, violence, mass incarceration, and social change. Advocates for enhancing the legal status of animals could learn a great deal from the history and successes (and failures) of other social movements. Likewise, social change lawyers, as well as animal advocates, might learn lessons from each other about the interconnections of oppression as they work to achieve liberation for all. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Ultimately, social change is not achieved through prosecution. Prosecutions enshrine the status quo, as symbolized by the codified criminal laws. If animal protection efforts are going to enjoy a true civil rights status, the movement needs to look for opportunities to confront oppression generally. Incarcerating humans is a flawed means of justifying greater empathy and humanity for animals. The criminal justice system is badly broken, and relying on it as vehicle for radical social reform is misguided.
This chapter provides an overview of the competing camps that comprise the animal protection movement -- for example, animal rights vs. animal welfare -- and explains that the common denominator between these groups is an interest in stronger criminal laws. The introduction also introduces the theme of prosecutors as agents of stagnation, not reform.
The primary public justification for ratcheting up the punitiveness of the respone to animal maltreatment is the presumed "link" between animal abuse and human violence. This chapter is a comprehensive critique of the link as a justification for criminal punishment. First, the chapter shows that the link data is not nearly as strong as its proponents suggest. More oftent than not, persons who abuse animals do not go on to engage in violence with humans. Second, even assuming that animal abuse was predictive of human violence, there is no data or logic to support the conclusion that incarceration will cause the sort of reform necessary to prevent human violence.
This chapter systematically critiques the use of criminal sanctions as a means of advancing the status of animals in society. By emphasizing research on incarceration, registries, and other criminal reforms in other social change contexts (including domestic violence, child abuse, and the war on drugs), this chapter demonstrates the shortcomings of a carceral strategy for social strategy.
The chapter is a comprhensive summary of the many forms of entanglment between the movment and the criminal justice system. Readers will be surprised to learn about the extent of the movement's investment in criminal prosecuiton, including the private funding of prosecutors.