Chicago learns that reforming murderers and attempted murderers is not very easy
Zachary Faria
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The tenets of liberal criminal justice reform are collapsing under the reality that repeat criminals cannot simply be “reformed.” The latest reminder that life is not that simple comes as one of the movement’s brightest stars has burned out.
In Chicago, Steven Hawthorne has just been charged with murder — again. He was reportedly found last month, covered in blood, fleeing the scene of the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Hawthorne was supposed to be a shining example of the benefits of criminal justice reform. In 1984, he was convicted of double murder for killing an alleged bully and a bystander. He ultimately served 33 years in prison for that crime.
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Upon release, he joined several charitable causes, hailed as proof that all criminals could be redeemed. Then, in February 2020, he was charged with gun possession. That should have been a major red flag because being a felon in possession of a gun is often a precursor to homicide. It should have been an indication that he did not respect the law and was not as “reformed” as people thought.
But no one in power saw it. Hawthorne was out on bond for a charge of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon at the time he allegedly beat Tamera Washington to death with a rock and shot Norman Redden Sr.
So, two people are now dead because the criminal justice system thought that a man who committed double homicide could be reformed and because it decided to ignore the bright red flags that were waving back in 2020.
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This was not even the only failure of criminal justice reform in Chicago this week. Quincy Newell, who was on parole for aggravated battery from an attempted robbery in 2013, was arrested on charges of shooting someone in a robbery and shooting at two police officers. Newell was 22 when he was first arrested in 2013 after he shot one victim three times. He was sentenced to a mere 11 years, of which he served only nine.
There are plenty of difficult questions about the role of the criminal justice system in rehabilitation, especially for young offenders. You would think the easiest answer would be keeping murderers and attempted murderers behind bars, and yet they have been among the criminals who have benefited most from the criminal justice reform movement.