How Can I Make A Difference In Our Broken Justice System? What Can I Do To Help Those That Are Marginalized In Our Society?

 These are complicated yet crucial questions to ask of oneself isn't it?  

For anyone who has watched a compelling documentary or caught a horrific news story or come upon an online article detailing the suffering and pain endured by someone and after reading has thought what could have prevented this.  What would have saved this person from experiencing this pain?  How do we stop the preventable suffering of others? How can we free someone who has gotten tangled up in the criminal justice system and found themselves in prison for a crime they did not commit.  Or how can I help with the many social injustice issues like the thousands of missing children or the victims of human trafficking. How can I help reduce the growing number of the homeless population?  I am beginning to think that all of these issues are because of a broken system.  A system of government that has put profit over people for entirely to long and as a result the marginalized of society are the ones who by design are suffering.

I have always been what is now called an avid "follower" of what is labeled the "true crime genre". Well for the majority of my life.  Full disclosure here- because my upbringing and most of my life was filled with traumatic events that these true crime film crews could have used to create multiple shows I think that is the root of my fascination with anything to do with criminal justice, crime, social injustice, the criminal psyche, corruption masquerading as civil service,  and all of that.  

The how and what that transpired in my life that got me to here is a blog post for another time.  I only mention it as an attempt to explain how I- a middle aged woman who has been fortunate to survive many acts of horrific violence including a violent assault that resulted in a traumatic brain injury and emergency brain surgery.  Me-a woman who was raised by young uneducated parents in a small rural area with little resources and with minimal "formal" education has somehow managed to not only survive I have found my way to this moment.  I have been involved in some form of advocacy for social and criminal justice reform and trying to help others in my community.  From feeding the homeless, helping the impoverished to connect with agencies to assist them, helping the young and uneducated connect with resources, mentoring young teens in my community, supporting people trying to better themselves or helping the elderly or disabled keep up with daily responsibilities I have felt not only compelled but a deep desire to help my fellow human beings on this third rock from the sun. 

So the catalyst not just this post has allowed me to find and connect with a brilliant and equally devoted community of other like minded people from around the world was the award winning Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer."  Like thousands of viewers of the millions that watched there was something awoken inside me upon learning the story of Teresa Halbach, Steven Avery and Brendan Dasseys that has compelled me not only out of a major depression it more importantly allowed me to branch out of my local community and into the worldwide community of advocacy for wrongful convictions and social and criminal justice reform. 

I have found that I am on a path that is simultaneously rewarding, empowering, incredibly frustrating yet honestly a joy to be traveling. From learning how to actually research a criminal case, how to request responsive documents from government agencies (FOIA) to networking with other like minded individuals (from all around the world!)  who are also involved in other wrongful convictions, unsolved crime cases and want to advance social and criminal justice reform that is truly wonderful to experience.  

It is a disheartening feeling to realize that there are many people that have been wronged by the broken US criminal justice system. That there are people who are marginalized and minimized preyed upon intentionally by those in positions of authority in society.  That this problem isn't local or nor is it rare.  There are thousands upon thousands of people that are in desperate need of someone to be their voice. From the innocent people on death row to the young children lost by their state Department of Child Services or the teen caught up in human trafficking to the human being holding a sign asking for a dollar there are people who will benefit from social justice reform and a major overhaul in the criminal justice system.  Government agencies need to be not only held accountable when their actions result in harm to people and more importantly they need to implement steps to keep the same mistakes that cause people to suffer from continuing to happen.  Civil service employees and elected government officials who choose to intentionally inflict suffering on others either by ignorance or intentional acts need to be punished for doing so.  Laws and legislation need to be enacted or passed to stop all of these things from occurring over and over throughout the United States and the world.  These things will not stop unless we as citizens make them stop.  

This is a complex and serious issue. So this last week I have spent in addition to all my other activities mulling over how I can best assist in doing that.  How can I best assist these people?  It isn't like I have lots of money- I do not.  In fact I was chatting with someone and made a joke (but was serious) that I could not afford $1 to pay for something like "star" status on a YouTube channel.  Unfortunately I wasn't joking about being broke. So what exactly can I even offer these people who desperately need help?  Well what do I have to give?  I have my time.  I have my voice.  I have my desire to help make the change.  I have all these available online platforms to bring awareness of these issues to others.  I have the ability (thanks to being taught by others in the community) to request and review official documents, photos etc. and look for things that could help in making a change.  I have the ability to make phone calls and write emails to people who have experience in this field to ask for guidance on what else can be done.  I can also keep reminding those elected people in that community that I know about this person and I am making sure that they are not being ignored or forgotten.  I can learn how to create informational videos and share them on all the available social media platforms.  I can also write blogs, posts and articles on social media platforms and bring awareness of the person to others. 

The truth is for something to actually change I have to make an effort and I have to take action.  Simply watching a news show or documentary on what has happened to someone and learning about their plight doesn't fix what has happened.  It is what I choose to do after learning about the issues that determines if change will actually occur. 

So I am off to do what I can to try and make a positive change in  the world.