From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Sun Apr 14 2002 - 15:57:07 MDT
Lee Corbin wrote:
>
> Yes, I would like to see many attempt to find the causes
> of criminal behavior. It may be in the genes, or in
> people's early childhood experiences, or (possibly)
> due to exploitation and constant haranguing from TV
> shows, pundits, and politicians. Yes, it will
> be very nice when we "find the causes".
>
> Meanwhile, punishment is a resort used by almost all
> entities in history, be they parents, friends, enemies,
> nations, States, communities, or religious figures.
> Punishment, or rather the desire to punish, has even
> been built into the nervous systems of most animals,
> including human beings. I'm sure that you would agree
> that it would be unwise to discontinue the practice
> entirely, even if it were possible.
>
We are rewriting history from here on out. What most bothers me
is that we lock people up for life in the US on "3rd strike"
even if those crimes were all relatively minor with little jail
time in an of themselves. We now have a larger percentage of
our people in jail than any country in the world. I don't
think it is all because of braindead laws but over 40%
nationwide are in for drug offenses - the majority for mere
possession. Our mandatory sentencing laws bypass judicial
discretion. The results are pretty horrendous to the
individuals subject to this "justice" and to our society. There
is also little evidence that these draconian sentencing
practices actually work to deter that much real crime. We are
one of a handful of countries that executes children and the
mentally ill. The others are places like Yemen, Iran and Saudi
Arabia. Studies have recently shown that as many as 80% of the
people on death row in many states should not be there. As many
as 60% have been found subsequently innocent in some areas.
As Extropians I think we should be especially loathe to practice
pre-Extropian hard justice, especially capital punishment. We
are not depriving people of the rest of a short life but of
relative eternity!
It is quite possible that we will be able to cure the
imbalances, injustices and so on that lead to most if not all
crimes in the near future. At the point we can then we notice
that criminals are victims of several afflictions themselves. We
might well look back and see our old attitudes as the equivalent
to torturing the mentally ill and epileptics in bygone times.
> Sensible people, even on the Extropian list, will also
> agree to moderation on most questions, and I submit
> that pursuance of technicalities within the legal
> system in order to allow criminals to evade punishment
> has often been carried too far, although it's possible
As has mandatory sentencing practices that have filled our
prisons to overflowing and should strike fear and loathing into
everyone.
> that it's just been that too much publicity has attended
> certain cases in which murderers and other miscreants
> have evaded punishment on ridiculous technicalities.
> But the perception commonly exists that criminals don't
> really have that much to fear from the judicial system.
We all have a tremendous amount to fear from this "justice"
system. A lot of press has been slanted on purpose by the
powers that be to make us look "soft on crime" and to instill
the punishment meme. The results are making this society
deathly ill imho.
- samantha
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