The Nuances of Mercy: Incarceration, Police Brutality, and the Criminal Justice System

This essay aims to generate a comprehensive understanding of the various aspects related to the practice of 'mercy', specifically focusing on the topics of incarceration, mental health of prisoners, and the death penalty. It discusses the relationship between mercy and these sub-areas, highlighting the importance of addressing issues such as mass incarceration, police brutality, and the criminal justice system. The essay concludes that these aspects are intrinsically connected to the concept of mercy.

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Introduction
Aiming to generate a proper and comprehensive idea about the various nuances of the
practice of ‘mercy’, this essay endeavors to throw light on the various intrinsic arenas related to
the topic. The following paragraphs will endeavor to argue for the fact the three aspects are
related to mercy. The following paragraphs will also try to delve deeper into the three close-knit
ideas of incarceration, mental health of prisoners and the idea of death penalty. It is to be noted
that these sub-areas are inherently connected to the idea of just mercy.
Discussion
As the phrase depicts ‘mercy’ refers to the manner in which a human being extends the
compassionate nature towards another fellow human being (Maroney and Ackerman-Lieberman
2014). The conception of mercy inculcates the myriad ideas of incarceration, criminal justice
system and police brutality. It has to be accepted that in order to sustain and concretize the ideas
of ‘mercy’, it is important to check the surge in these factors.
Incarceration
The term ‘incarceration’ refers the time period and the state of being confined to the
prison (Aizer and Doyle 2015). This idea can be related to ‘mercy’ because the treatment that is
meted to jail inmates during the period of incarceration is reflective of the mercy that is extended
to the inmates. There are a few stages that determine the period of incarceration. Inmates often
experience the stage of ‘denial’ in the initial stages (Dierkhising, Lane and Natsuaki 2014).
Followed by this, the inmates might also experience the second stage where the denial is
replaced by the emotion of ‘anger’. The third stage is dictated by ‘bargain’ where the inmates try
to plead for mercy. The fourth stage is dictated by the gnawing feeling of ‘depression’ that is

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succeeded by ‘acceptance’. The idea of mass incarceration is prevalent in the United States.
Statistics reveal that the rate and percentage of mass incarceration has increased to 2.3 million
(American Civil Liberties Union 2019). It has to be accepted that the generation of mercy is
important to relieve the depressing nature of their existence.
Police Brutality
As the phrase depicts, the idea of police brutality refers to the atrocious nature of the
treatment that is meted by the police upon the jail inmates. More the cases of police brutality, the
cases of generation and delivery of mercy also reduces at the same pace (Embrick 2015). Police
brutality also refers to the severe form of police misconduct at various areas. It is also a form of
violation upon the civil rights of human beings. The cases of police brutality is also evident and
prevalent in the United States. Statistics project that the cases of police brutality and police
violence affect the young generation of United States (NBC News 2019). The cases of police
brutality reduces the delivery of proper justice and mercy in certain areas.
It has to be accepted that police violence acts as impediments for the society’s goals in relation to
the notion of ‘mercy’. Several other records also mention and justify the fact that police atrocity
can be felt upon the Black population who were killed by the police (BBC News 2019). Such
cases are reflective of the police brutality and the deliberate encroachment upon the basic human
rights. Needless to say, in order to realize and concretize the objectives of mercy, it is extremely
important to reduce the cases of police brutality. The idea and practice of police brutality is
prevalent throughout the world. It has to be accepted that the cases of police atrocity is
intrinsically interlinked to the notion of violence. Several studies as well as records are
emblematic of the fact that police brutality can be linked to the notion of extreme and inhuman

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violence (Cooper 2015). In order to choose mercy over violence, the state needs to impress upon
the police the need to exercise the acts of mercy.
Criminal Justice System
It has to be accepted that it is quite important to deliver proper justice to the criminals
and the perpetrators of crime. This system also aims to prevent further injustices and perpetration
of crime. The Criminal Justice System refers to the system of the innumerable rules as well as
regulations that are set and implemented for the proper identification of the crimes. It has to be
accepted that the Criminal Justice System also tries to implement regular and proper
punishments to the perpetrators of crime (DeLisi and Vaughn 2014). In addition to this, the
Criminal Justice System also focusses upon the aspect of the rehabilitation of the criminals as
well as the offenders. The broad notion of criminal justice inculcates the concept of law
enforcement. Followed by this, the notion of criminal justice also includes the idea of court
system that tries to investigate into the claims and other ideas. In addition to this, the court
system is succeeded by the various correctional measures that includes proper delivery of
punishment and other correctional measures.
Needless to say, the criminal justice system encompasses and is related to the idea of
mercy. Studies reveal that the aspect of mercy can be included in the process of delivering
justice. The addition of ‘mercy’ to the system of justice can enable the criminals to gauge as well
as cherish the importance of ‘mercy’ by leading a proper and truthful life. ‘Mercy of the court’
refers to the manner in which the clemency is exercised by the court when any criminal
confesses about the crime. Governmental data reveals the idea that the US Legal System does not
have any room for the Criminal Justice System. Therefore, it can be said that the inculcation of
the criminal justice system will help in the generation of mercy in the process of criminal justice.

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Conclusion
After analyzing the above-discussed idea, it can be mentioned that the three aspects of
police brutality, incarceration and criminal justice system are reflective of the aspect of mercy
that is important for the delivery of human rights. It can also be concluded that the three aspects
are connected to mercy.

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References
American Civil Liberties Union (2019). Mass Incarceration. [online] American Civil Liberties
Union. Available at: https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/mass-
incarceration-animated-series [Accessed 16 Feb. 2019].
NBC News (2019). The lives of people of color are more likely to be cut short by police. [online]
NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/police-killings-hit-
people-color-hardest-study-finds-n872086 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2019].
BBC News (2019). Police brutality - BBC News. [online] BBC News. Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c02znxvzlqdt/police-brutality [Accessed 16 Feb. 2019].
Cooper, H.L., 2015. War on drugs policing and police brutality. Substance use & misuse, 50(8-
9), pp.1188-1194.
Maroney, T.A. and Ackerman-Lieberman, P., 2014. “As a Father Shows Compassion for His
Children”: Ancient and Contemporary Perspectives on Judicial Empathy. Journal of Law,
Religion and State, 3(3), pp.240-275.
Aizer, A. and Doyle Jr, J.J., 2015. Juvenile incarceration, human capital, and future crime:
Evidence from randomly assigned judges. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(2), pp.759-
803.
Dierkhising, C.B., Lane, A. and Natsuaki, M.N., 2014. Victims behind bars: A preliminary study
of abuse during juvenile incarceration and post-release social and emotional
functioning. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20(2), p.181.

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Embrick, D.G., 2015. Two nations, revisited: the lynching of black and brown bodies, police
brutality, and racial control in ‘post-racial’Amerikkka. Critical Sociology, 41(6), pp.835-843.
DeLisi, M. and Vaughn, M.G., 2014. Foundation for a temperament-based theory of antisocial
behavior and criminal justice system involvement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), pp.10-25.