"On a recent walk out to the compost bin, I asked myself: Is there some connection between my work with these men and women and my family’s compost bin?
When we talk about crime and criminals, that word ‘away’ comes up a lot. ‘Put her away!’ ‘Lock him away!’ But, just as with our garbage habits, when it comes to our criminal justice policy, there is no such thing as ‘away’. When we ‘put someone away’, we actually send them to a real place, surrounded by real people, paid for (very expensively) by our real tax dollars. And the way we as communities shape those real places has real implications for our communities’ well-being. If our responses to crime seek to mend broken relationships—economic, social, or personal—then they can be one way to heed Micah’s call to ‘do justice’."
We need these reminders that we live in a world where ‘away’ is never far away and that our communities will be healthier when that becomes part of our thinking and living.