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In 1972, I believe it was, I accepted an assignment to photograph former Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa when he gave a speech sponsored by the John Howard Association in Honolulu. I have little talent for absorbing the wisdom of sermons or other expository speeches, and even less such talent when I am distracted by apertures and shutter speeds, but I have long treasured one sweet malapropism Mr. Hoffa shared with his appreciative audience on that day. “Punishment,” said Mr. Hoffa, “does not detour crime.” I believe I heard him, more than once in his presentation, say exactly that, and I accepted it as plausible and probably in large part true: Punishment does not detour crime.
I am sure Mr. Hoffa offered specific suggestions for helping wayward persons back onto the right path, but my own mind meandered and never returned to that particular scene of a crime.
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