The criminal justice system affects more than the men whose lives are irrevocably changed when they encounter the system.
The criminal justice system affects not only the perpetrator and the victim of the crime, but also affects their families in ways that are largely not considered when it comes to making policy. For example, a rape victim who sees her rapist convicted, but given a short sentence, will likely feel that the system has let her down. She will probably live in fear of his release, and the way in which her perception of the justice system has been changed will not only affect her but those around her. They may even see a change in the victim that they cannot do anything about, affecting her mental health, and changing her life in an irrevocably downward trajectory.
Similarly, the family of the man who has been incarcerated are also affected. Children of fathers who are in prison grow up without a father figure in the house. It has been proven that children who grown up with out a father figure, especially young men, are less likely to stay in school or to graduate. Given that education is one of the key ways through which a person can work themselves out of poverty, this is already putting these children at a disadvantage.
It is not enough to move people around in a bureaucracy if you don't change the underlying values and let those values reshape tactics and procedures.
Recently term limits for politicians have been a hot topic, and this issue relates directly to what the author is saying in this passage. It is not enough for our representatives to keep telling us what it is that they want to do, and what they want to change. There are some in government who have been there almost half a century, during which time they have not changed anything, followed through on any promises, or made any real difference to the way in which the country is governed. If a politician was given a limit on the term they could serve, there would not only be more incentive to get things done, but there would also be a finite amount of time that the public would have to sit by and watch them not doing it. As the author points out, if there is going to be a change brought about it is not going to be brought about by lifelong politicians.
