the idea that “justice” looked like forcing our abusers to spend the rest of their lives in regret, whether inside a cell or dealing with the repercussions of a criminal record outside of one. Not only was this a lie—out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, only four would be incarcerated—but it made no sense: Just because someone went to jail or had their voting rights witheld didn’t mean they were healed. Prisons conflated accountability with vengeance, but these alternatives promised something more: rehabilitation, redemption, and a future beyond social death.
