From the desk of Mary Ellen Johnson

It’s happened again. Another mass shooting in Colorado. The first, Columbine, was followed by more tough-on-crime rhetoric and talk about not blaming the guns because “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.“ That same logic is being applied to this horror. Yes, it makes sense. So next time we send troops to war, let’s arm them to the teeth with… other people. Forget the weapons. Remember, it’s the people!!

Do I believe we will engage in an actual dialogue, an actual search for answers following the Dark Knight shootings?

No.

I do know this. If we start seeking knee-jerk solutions – tougher sentencing laws for gun crimes, expanding the net of current laws – we will find ourselves thirteen years later – as we did in the wake of Columbine – trying to undo the damage of ill-conceived actions that do not prevent further abominations and simply compound our nation’s sickness.

I wish I had answers. I don’t. Or I have some ideas but they won’t be implemented so why bother pretending otherwise?

As we pretend that this time we will do something, that this time we aren’t just mouthing empty platitudes, I will just remind everyone that mass incarceration is not the answer.

Nor is mindless retribution.

But, then, what is??

Call to Action

Sign Our Petition – http://www.change.org/petitions/gov-john-hickenlooper-turn-back-the-clock-on-juvenile-sentences

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40 years of juvenile justice in a flash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75xZ2WWPv9k&feature=youtu.be

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