Letter to the editor: We are not unique

To the editor:

How often have I heard the words “Oh, Lawrence is not like them or that place”?

Whether Iowa City, Salina, Johnson County, Topeka, Memphis, Spokane or Punkin Center, if Justice Matters or any other group suggests alternatives to incarceration that have been proven successful in other jurisdictions throughout the country, we hear the same response. This is Lawrence. We do things our way. What works there cannot work here because we are very different, very much superior, very unique. We are bigger, or smaller or richer, or poorer, or less inner city, or have a better jail, or we are invaded by bad people in surrounding communities, or have state restrictions.

Lawrence is a beautiful, comfortable, safe place to live with lots of entertainment for most of us. There are, however, thousands of people who live and work here that are not included in our utopia. Many are in great need of support and a pathway to be included in the civic life we who are privileged enjoy and take for granted. Changing the well-insulated systems that cause these barriers to equity is not different from any other city or county or kingdom in the history of humankind. It is a matter of seeing that the way we have always done it is working for only some of us.

Building a bigger jail will allow us to continue to incarcerate first, and allow alternatives later.