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"Brute egalitarianism" means giving everyone the same sentence without case-by-case consideration. For example zero-tolerance, mandatory sentencing, not doing

"Brute egalitarianism" means giving everyone the same sentence without case-by-case consideration. For example zero-tolerance, mandatory sentencing, not doing pardons anymore, not releasing people on parole when they behave well and so on.

jacobush 10y ago
I also struggled with that "brute egalitarianism" phrasing but settled for what you said. I also speculated that it might mean that the same punishment ("LIFETIME. NO PAROLE. "THREE STRIKES AND YOU ARE OUT.") is given for a bunch of unrelated trivial crap crimes. 1. Drunk driving (no victim of course) 2. Evading arrest 3. Apparently you had sex with your girlfriend when you both were 15. Welcome to Oz, citizen! Oh, you can no longer vote, so forget that "citizen" part.
dragonwriter 10y ago
That's not a real thing. Pardons and commutation still exist, parole exists and is regularly used (not in the federal system, but the vast majority of criminal prosecution is state-level prosecution); mandatory minimums exist, as do some zero-tolerance policies, but those policies are selectively enforced and mandatory minimums aren't mandatory equal sentences and don't stop selective choice of charges. There is no brute egalitarianism in the criminal justice and, in fact, enforcement is radically unequal on both racial and class bases. Also, the area where the policies linked to that alleged "brute egalitarianism" are most prominent are drug offenses and areas related to violence against police officers sold largely by the violence in the war on drugs, so even if they did produce a "brute egalitarianism" it wouldn't be "across the board", it would still stem directly from the war on drugs.
- jacobush 10y ago
  What is not a real thing? The article argues (correctly or incorrectly?!) that while parole etc still exists, the leeway which still exists in the system, is increasingly used to stop parole, judge the harshest sentence allowed by law, etc. That the leeway in the past was more often used the other way. Consider attenuating circumstances etc.
- shkkmo 10y ago
  The point is not that the criminal justice system is egalitarian, but that our attempts to brute force egalitarianism have often lead to longer sentences and higher incarceration rates. > Blacks in Minnesota are about eleven times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, giving Minnesota the country’s highest black-white disparity in imprisonment. But Minnesota also has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country. So overall, African Americans are less likely to be sent to prison in Minnesota than in the South, which is a more equal opportunity incarcerator He is not disputing that the war on drugs is a proximate cause of our higher incarceration rates. He is saying that attempts to solve the problem by releasing non violent drug offenders can't solve the issue alone. > Unfortunately, the issue is getting framed in a way that’s too narrowly focused on the War on Drugs. In fact, if we released everyone now serving time in state prisons whose primary charge is a drug offense, we would reduce the state prison population by only 20 percent
dandare 10y ago
I bet 50 years prison sentences for "hacking" sci papers is also pretty excessive.

jacobush 10y ago

I also struggled with that "brute egalitarianism" phrasing but settled for what you said. I also speculated that it might mean that the same punishment ("LIFETIME. NO PAROLE. "THREE STRIKES AND YOU ARE OUT.") is given for a bunch of unrelated trivial crap crimes. 1. Drunk driving (no victim of course) 2. Evading arrest 3. Apparently you had sex with your girlfriend when you both were 15. Welcome to Oz, citizen! Oh, you can no longer vote, so forget that "citizen" part.

dragonwriter 10y ago

That's not a real thing. Pardons and commutation still exist, parole exists and is regularly used (not in the federal system, but the vast majority of criminal prosecution is state-level prosecution); mandatory minimums exist, as do some zero-tolerance policies, but those policies are selectively enforced and mandatory minimums aren't mandatory equal sentences and don't stop selective choice of charges. There is no brute egalitarianism in the criminal justice and, in fact, enforcement is radically unequal on both racial and class bases. Also, the area where the policies linked to that alleged "brute egalitarianism" are most prominent are drug offenses and areas related to violence against police officers sold largely by the violence in the war on drugs, so even if they did produce a "brute egalitarianism" it wouldn't be "across the board", it would still stem directly from the war on drugs.

jacobush 10y ago
What is not a real thing? The article argues (correctly or incorrectly?!) that while parole etc still exists, the leeway which still exists in the system, is increasingly used to stop parole, judge the harshest sentence allowed by law, etc. That the leeway in the past was more often used the other way. Consider attenuating circumstances etc.
shkkmo 10y ago
The point is not that the criminal justice system is egalitarian, but that our attempts to brute force egalitarianism have often lead to longer sentences and higher incarceration rates. > Blacks in Minnesota are about eleven times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, giving Minnesota the country’s highest black-white disparity in imprisonment. But Minnesota also has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country. So overall, African Americans are less likely to be sent to prison in Minnesota than in the South, which is a more equal opportunity incarcerator He is not disputing that the war on drugs is a proximate cause of our higher incarceration rates. He is saying that attempts to solve the problem by releasing non violent drug offenders can't solve the issue alone. > Unfortunately, the issue is getting framed in a way that’s too narrowly focused on the War on Drugs. In fact, if we released everyone now serving time in state prisons whose primary charge is a drug offense, we would reduce the state prison population by only 20 percent

dandare 10y ago

I bet 50 years prison sentences for "hacking" sci papers is also pretty excessive.