Judgment and Justice: Worlds Apart

Editor’s Note: In March 2010, we began posting the work of Enceno Macy, an inmate in a U.S. prison. Enceno’s articles are sent handwritten, then typed and edited by a trusted editor. Comments typed into the response area will be sent directly to Enceno. Thanks for reading and for the warm response he’s received each time. –efc & ajp

by Enceno Macy

Judgment is a word with many faces. In Christian lore according to the gospel of Matthew, the Last Judgment will determine each person’s eternal fate entirely based on whether each gave or refused help to “the least of these,” named by Jesus as the poor, the hungry, the helpless, the sick, the imprisoned. In our courtrooms, judgment ideally is the process of reaching an opinion through careful weighing of evidence. In our personal lives, judgment is further defined as either good judgment or bad judgment: a sensible decision or reasonable act is attributed to ‘good’ judgment, and a blunder or criminal act results from ‘bad’ judgment.

As if that weren’t confusing enough, we then have the word “judgmental,” which is generally used in a negative context to mean someone who is over-critical, over-eager to find fault, seeing only the worst in others.

Almost everyone can relate to being judged. It happens every day, in all cultures to some degree. It is the natural result of humans assessing and evaluating each other’s conduct; our lives can depend on the accuracy of our judgment. And whether we admit it or not, we all judge people. Our perception or understanding of the person judged affects our tolerance of that person.

For example, a person who vehemently dislikes homosexuals will avoid any association whatsoever with someone perceived as homosexual, while someone else who also dislikes gays may have no problem being around them in other contexts like work or sports or church. Both judgments are the same but the way each one treats gays will be very different (substitute blacks or hispanics or Jews or other disfavored groups for homosexuals and you get the same result).

Growing up, I was both the cause and the product of unfair judgments. I think race is the most obvious reflection of what such judgments can do. Because of preconceived notions of how blacks act and what they do or how they are built, I was an easy target as a child. Some people expected me to be good at sports, some figured I could only like rap or R&B music, some thought I couldn’t be trusted, some thought I was inherently stupid. As a kid, I didn’t understand how these stereotypical judgments keep people — including myself — from being open to any other possibilities. My size and color contributed greatly to my being judged early on as a troublemaker or a nuisance.

To a great extent, others’ judgment of me made me who I was as a teenager. I was no more mischievous than the next kid when I was little, but was judged by local authorities and school officials as a serious troublemaker from day one. Being blamed for things I hadn’t done and having my every innocuous move interpreted as a major crime made my young mind reason — however illogically — that I might as well be what they labeled me and do what they accuse me of since I was getting punished for it anyway.

In prison, those judged unfit for society often inflict further and even crueler judgments on each other, defining people by their crimes, not by who they really are. This can add to the damage of a harsh or false judgment. A really nice, smart, respectable person convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old girl will be stuck forever with the label of sex offender and be beaten and extorted or worse during all his years in prison. Such treatment will change his outlook on the world and he will eventually get out a bitter, negative person no longer wanting or able to be part of society. He could have been a positive asset to society but now he is nothing. The result for an innocent person can be even more devastating. Imagine being incarcerated – repeatedly beaten, shunned, extorted, raped — as a sex offender for 14 years after the alleged victim admitted she invented the whole story.

Judgment is important to both our social and physical survival. During childhood we may be more judgmental — quick to form opinions based on superficial or dubious evidence — but as we age and learn, experience and knowledge give us a more open mind. Even the harshest of our judgments may be tempered by knowledge or emotion. Say someone rapes or kills one or many people. You may condemn that person as a terrible human being, but his mother or a friend, while judging him the killer that he is, may choose to see also the other parts of him that are good and feel he deserves more chances. Some people are able to keep this type of open mind toward everyone they encounter; their judgment is based on a good-natured attitude that humans have a natural capacity for good and are only bad when provoked, like honey bees.

On the other hand, being able to identify and avoid people who may be detrimental to you can prove to be crucial to your survival. A woman who has been through several abusive relationships, for instance, may now be able to identify abusive traits and avoid such types when pursuing companionship or romance. This may lead her to be rude to those she identifies as potential abusers, but her judgment will help keep her from being abused again. It will be similar for me when I am released and must avoid people who might lead me into situations that could violate my release conditions.

In general, judgments dissect and categorize society not only for reasons of survival. People judge each other on the bases of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, class, income level, age, occupation, nationality and many other factors, each further broken down into often inexplicable subcategories. A girl in high school may dislike another girl solely because she thinks her not ‘girly’ enough, even though they are both female.

Maybe someone you’ve never met before has been extremely rude or mean to you, or turned you down for a loan or denied you some request. You may have thought, “What did I ever do to deserve this?” You may have wondered what you had done wrong, but it could be as simple as the clothes you were wearing, or the color of your hair or skin. Of course appearance is only one basis for judgment.

Judgment by stereotype or superficial qualities leads right into the negative connotations of the word judgmental: judging with the sole intent of finding flaws or weaknesses or evils. People seldom admit to being judgmental, much less boast of it, even while engaging in it shamelessly. This is apparent in school during adolescence, when insecurities are high and peer pressure favors selfishness and lack of consideration for others. Kids often find someone to pick on to take the focus off themselves, to make their own flaws appear less significant, or to elevate their own status in a group. Their cruel judgments can shape and mold their targets into the adults they become, often with devastating effects. From picking your nose or wearing glasses or peeing your pants to having unfashionable clothes or being big or black or clumsy, childhood flaws can follow you forever, and your entire adult life may be shaped by those who have judged you unfairly simply to make themselves feel better.

Prison contains all the different types and derivatives of judgment, which itself becomes an offensive weapon. One of the first casualties is your ability to trust others. Being in a prison environment has forced me to become a constant scrutinizer of others. Prison hierarchy and etiquette require one who plans on surviving to be a good judge of character — not so much for the killers and robbers as for the con artists and infiltrators. Convicts turn on each other at the drop of a hat. Things such as loyalty and courage are important to identify. It is a crucial game.

Prison is intense. It is where many of the most negative, conniving and untrustworthy people in society reside. Imagine that everyone around you — and that means everyone — doesn’t care a rip whether you live or die; in fact most of them wish you were dead. Most of them also hope you suffer at least as much misery and discontentment as they do. They look to cause this by condemning others as quickly as possible. The main reasons for their negative judgment are the charge you are in on and the perceived weakness of your character, which are often mingled. A man who has sexually abused a child or woman is judged to be weak because he picks on those who are helpless. There is little or no exception to this attitude toward such prisoners.

Weakness in general is very important to judge. In this predator/prey environment, the weak are preyed upon and taken advantage of. Predators look for weakness to pursue possible prey, and if you don’t want to become a target by association, you make it clear to someone labeled as weak that you want nothing to do with him. It is a sometimes sad and unfortunate occurrence because very good people can become victims.

Not being labeled as weak, though, does not necessarily mean you are an alpha male. It can mean simply that you will not be a bully but will stand up for yourself and are on the side of the convicts in any difference between them and the authorities. Judgment then comes into play in discerning another convict’s motives for befriending you. You have to figure out if the guys around you are looking to use you or con you. Unfortunately, this is one thing you often can’t really know until it happens, and experience is a painful guide.

Judgment is ultimately a way to determine how much and what kind of trust you can put into someone. It is not always accurate and can — or should — be an ongoing process. I’ve seen a man stab his best friend over the friend’s no longer wanting to be part of a gang. Bad judgment has tricked guys into carrying out assaults on random victims and getting jail time for it. I’ve seen family members who have known and loved each other for decades lie to police in an attempt to keep one of them in prison.

One thing you learn here is that judging others is not something to take lightly, nor is it something we can ignore, because ill-informed or malicious judgments can do serious, lasting harm, especially when people are conditioned to judge others for the wrong reasons. Stereotypes — judgments based on superficial, financial or ideological delusions — not only divide all parts of society deeply and often disastrously, but also deprive us of friendships and perspectives worth more than mere survival value.

You may be forced to judge others; maybe it’s part of your job as an employer or facilitator. But in personal judgments don’t forget the times you have been unfairly treated badly because of others’ judgment of you. Keep an open mind to your daughter’s boyfriend or your next door neighbors. You never know when your judgments may turn out to be wrong, yet you let them affect your treatment of a person who could have been an ally in a time of need, or a best friend you’ll now never know. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), a tireless suffragist who spent a lot of time in jail for her pains, could have been speaking for us today when she said, “Justice and Judgment lie often a world apart.”