4 ms·
In what sense is it not equally horrible? Combine it with these observations: 1) Trials are increasingly rare, most criminals in prison never had one, they ma
by erikpukinskis 8y ago
In what sense is it not equally horrible?
Combine it with these observations:
1) Trials are increasingly rare, most criminals in prison never had one, they made a plea deal
2) The difference between a maximum sentence and a plea deal can be an order of magnitude (2 years instead of 20)
3) Dark skinned people
can rationally expect that they won’t receive a fair trial, given bias in police investigations, DA practices, and juries.
... That adds up to a lot of innocent dark skinned people in prison, who quite rationally traded their civic rights for a smaller variability in their risk profile.
I guess what’s “better” about that than chattel slavery is that person had a possibility of release. So instead of 100% chance of incarceration and loss of civil rights, they had only an 80% chance of incarceration. Is that your position?
Personally, that doesn’t feel like a qualitative difference. Seems like the same situation just moved to a different psychic plane. But, interested in your thoughts.
- komali2 8y agoI was talking about forced military conscription, i.e. what Taiwanese and Korean citizens undergo, not the American prison system. These systems aren't as bad as chattel slavery because there is a strict legal requirement of when they must end (usually within a year), the citizen remains a citizen (albeit a military one as well) and thus still gets due process (outside of military punishments for, say, defecting or pointing a gun at a superior officer), the citizen can own property while doing their service, they get to do whatever they want with their own money, etc etc etc. I still think they're wrong, for many reasons, but also because I don't believe there should be militaries designed for human-human conflict.