From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Tue Jul 30 2002 - 22:44:17 MDT
Mike Lorrey wrote:
> I'd not call 56,000+ murderers in prison a 'small
> minority'. Nor the hundreds of thousands of rapists in
> prisons (whom I very much doubt you'd like to see on
> the street).
>
You are rather missing the point but where do these numbers come
from? The first number says that less than 3% are murderers.
The second is too general to even quantify.
> While I support the notion that drug offense
> sentencing has gotten way out of hand, where killers
> spend less time in jail than acid heads in many cases.
>
> Those who commit crime are a very small percent of the
> population (around 2%) so it makes sense to focus on
> those who do and to take measures to isolate them from
> the rest of society for extended periods. If you
> murder someone, if you aren't executed, you should
> never set foot outside prison for the rest of your
> life.
There are several degrees of murder and more than a few possible
extenuating circumstances. So it is a little overdone to make
such a statement as the above. Also it has been found that
upward of 40% of people in death row in some states are either
not guilty (by DNA testing and such) or had such irregularities
in their cases that their guilt is very questionable. Locking
them up for life is better than execution if they can call into
question the verdicts.
> Rapists shouldn't go free unless they are either
> castrated or so old and infirm as to not be able to
> catch anybody to rape. Both types are known to have
Where did you study law ? Saudi Arabia? While I have some
sympathy for this position from having several friends who have
been raped, I don't think castration is the answer for the type
of complexes often involved. Nor do I think just putting people
away for a long time is an optimal solution. A more optimal
solution would be rehabilitation and have the person supporting
themselves and possibly paying restitution.
But you seem to assume that a few things like that the
individual is utterly blameworthy and that one gross violation
makes that individual utterly unsalvageable for life (which may
be a very, very long time if we get our dreams made real). Yet
it would be a challenge to prove that organic damage of the
brain could not be cured and that even massive psychological
damage and personality disorders and so on could not be
rehabilitated with any likely technology. If a person whose
nature + nurture + decisions + who knows how many things did
something reprehensible, I am not at all sure that means they
should simply be destroyed directly or by rotting in a cell IF
we can repair them. Are you?
> Any parole board member who sets free a criminal who
> kills again should be fired and fined heavily, at the
> very least. They hold the safety of society and the
No. It is not an exact science. Mistakes will be made. Honest
mistakes do not deserve heavy punishment.
> lives and liberties of innocent individuals in their
> hands.
>
So does everyone who drives a car.
- samantha
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