Note: This article is part 3 of a six-part series on humility written by university faculty.
Urgent calls for criminal justice reform have gained the long-awaited attention of our nation’s leaders in recent years, and rightfully so. However, the criminal justice system is not broken as most presume, but rather is in need of reorganization and restructuring. The word “broken” when used in this context insinuates that the criminal justice system has been fractured or damaged and is no longer in one piece or in working order, but that’s an inaccurate representation of the criminal justice system.
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Racial Profiling Has Led to Widespread Disparity in Arrests, Sentences, and Imprisonment, Especially for African Americans
As a nation, we must acknowledge that racial profiling has led to widespread disparity in the arrests, sentences, and imprisonment of African Americans in particular. These glaring concerns can no longer be discounted and dismissed with short-sighted solutions to what is truly a complex social problem deeply embedded throughout our history. This issue is not new, but rather an ongoing matter that has continued, even with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery in 1865.
African Americans went from involuntary servitude resulting from the 18th and early 19th century transatlantic slave trade to being incarcerated at a disproportionate rate that far exceeds that of Caucasians in the 20th and now 21st centuries. In fact, one in four African American males is likely to be incarcerated at some point in his lifetime while the likelihood of Caucasians males being incarcerated in their lifetime is one in 23.
How Do We Begin to Reform the American Criminal Justice System?
When faced with a complex task like reforming the American criminal justice system, the question often posed is: where do we begin? Racism is deeply ingrained within our society and is present at every stage of the criminal justice system from beginning to end. Racial disparity within the criminal justice system should be the starting point when addressing reform.
One of my primary research interests relative to reform is in the adoption and subsequent implementation of transformational leadership practices and policies. This starts with criminal justice leaders at the top of the organization down to those who must enforce those policies.
Transformational leaders motivate and inspire their subordinates. They are change agents who tirelessly work to establish an environment based on mutual trust, respect and admiration. They foster positive thinking, provide transparent communication, and have a clear vision of the intent and direction of the organization’s mission.
When a transformational leader integrates emotional intelligence into leadership practices, that person is more willing to accept and embrace change. That leader is therefore more likely to take an active role in reforming the criminal justice system by acknowledging the system’s faults, weaknesses and deficiencies.
A transformational leader who embraces emotional intelligence as part of his or her leadership attributes is a force to be reckoned with. Emotional intelligence is loosely defined as the ability to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions as well as the ability to cope with interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. In other words, leaders need self-regulation of their own emotions and must be able to “read” the body cues and emotions of others.
This skill is already popular within the fields of psychology and the private business sector, but is less known in criminal justice circles. We in criminal justice tend to do things the way they have always been done by maintaining the status quo. That is, however, an antiquated mentality and we are largely resistant to change that must be replaced with the progressive vision of transformational leaders if we want to move toward reforming the criminal justice system.
Humility in Criminal Justice Leadership
Lastly, there is humility. This is an important topic that is rarely discussed within the leadership literature, especially within the criminal justice literature. Yet it is a vital attribute that must be included in the everyone’s leadership toolbox. Paraphrasing the words of educator, author and specialist in emotional intelligence and leadership, Bruna Martinuzzi says, “We often confuse humility with timidity, yet humility is about maintaining our pride about who we are, our achievements, and our worth, but without arrogance.
I am deeply gratified to have represented the American criminal justice system with honor and integrity for more than three decades, and I know I’m not alone. There are tens of thousands of dedicated, committed men and women who feel just as proud.
Martinuzzi goes on further to state, “Another mark of a leader who practices humility is his or her treatment of others.” Criminal justice leaders who embrace humility choose to be open-minded to ideas that may not conform to our own yet are willing to listen to and consider what others have to say.
According to Beth Coleman, an instructor in the law enforcement development unit at the FBI academy: “Time-tested research in the leadership literature has proven that people will follow a leader, regardless of rank or position, with whom they feel a connection before they follow someone whom they perceive as disconnected, arrogant, and out of touch.” Self-awareness and critical reflection, which are also an integral subcomponent of emotional intelligence, allows leaders to remain humble yet strong in the eyes of others.
In 2016, Keith A. Findley, co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School, wrote in a Washington Post article in reference to the criminal justice system: “Humility — that’s a pretty good prescription for fixing what ails our system. The humility to recognize that sometimes we are wrong, even when we are most certain we are right. The humility to recognize that we are all affected by cognitive biases that can mislead us. The humility to recognize that the system and the evidence it relies upon are flawed and can be improved. And the humility to recognize that when we occasionally get it wrong, we must do something about it.”
The blindfold that Themis, also known as Lady Justice, wears is a symbol of impartiality and supports the notion that defendants are innocent until proven guilty. Yet as we have seen repeatedly throughout the history of our nation’s criminal justice system, justice does not always apply equally to all defendants and that must change. Humility is one critical piece of the equation to moving forward with criminal justice reform, and its importance can no longer be ignored by our nation’s criminal justice leaders.
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