Souder Tate: The EPIC Way

Not too long ago, I ran across a letter from 1980 from the Hon. John Danforth. He had written me in my official capacity as the President of College Republicans at SMSU to thank us for hosting him. Honestly, I don't remember the vent. I do remember that I always respected Sen. Danforth as a man of good moral character and high ideals. Republican ideals must have been important to my family. So important, in fact, that the wisest lady I ever knew, my beloved grandmother, told...Continue reading

My latest post which I forgot to share.

I have found it is so easy to live life on auto-pilot, either consumed by the past or by the uncertainty of the future. If we learn wisdom from our mistakes and look at every day as an opportunity to grow in and apply wisdom, life we become more like who we are meant to be.

Great news for veterans in the criminal justice system, and a good example of how evidence-based sentencing reduces recidivism by addressing risk factors and avoiding incarceration.

My latest post is on how I use evidence-based principles and practices from the science of human flourishing to increase well-being and encourage internal motivation to change.

I have edited this post to link to the same material which is now found on my website. This is the first of several posts on how I incorporate evidence-based principles and practices in criminal defense and sentencing. https://theepicway.com/the-epic-way-sentencing-mitigation-/

Virtue ... is what happens when someone has made a thousand small choices, requiring effort and concentration, to do something which is good and right but which doesn’t come naturallyand then, on the thousand and first time, when it really matters, they find that they do what’s required automatically,’ as we say. N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters

The two primary ways of looking at addiction are: Addiction is something you do (a choice), or Addiction is something you have (a disease). ... In the criminal justice system, we attempt to address these aspects through incentives, sanctions and treatment. There is a third way to view Addiction which I believe better explains it; Addiction is something you become (an Aristotelian habit). Addiction is the result of (subconsciously) pursuing a wrong vision of the Good Life based upon a false vision of human flourishing. Cravings and withdrawals don’t supersede these metaphysical causes of addiction, but they do add fuel to the fire. In order for lasting change to occur, motivation to change must be internal. Carrot and stick can only go so far. It can lead the addict to water, but it can’t make him drink. We can’t make an addict want to change, but we can create an environment supportive of change. We can craft a narrative which invites them into a prosocial vision of the Good Life. And we can welcome them into this new life with a spirit of encouragement and compassion. Incentives, sanctions and treatment clearly have their places, but it seems to me that the ultimate task is to help people answer the question What is the Good Life and how should it be lived? With the right vision, actions and then habits may be formed which can weed out or supersede old habits and ways of responding to life.

The excellence of an act or habit must be judged by the excellence of the vision motivating the act or habit. To illustrate: John and Jim both run into the same burning apartment building which, in a matter of minutes, will be engulfed in flames. In spite of this, each runs to his apartment to try to save what is most important to him. Two minutes later, each man exits the building just before it collapses. If the story ends here, both John and Jim appear equally courageous ...Continue reading