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Wait he sufficiently exiled himself and rejoined nature, survived (likely alone) for 17 years, and they take him back to prison?
by foxhop 7y ago
Wait he sufficiently exiled himself and rejoined nature, survived (likely alone) for 17 years, and they take him back to prison?
- numlock86 7y agoWhile I sort of get your point: What would be your ideal alternative? Just let him keep going on?
- zdkl 7y agoProvided the conditions outlined in GP are met, why not?
- dTal 7y agoWhat's the point of imprisoning someone? Punishment? This clearly was less harsh, or he would not prefer it. Protecting society? He roams free. A deterrent? Leaving him there would send the message to others that escaping and evading capture is a viable route to freedom.
- owenmarshall 7y agoIdeally it'd be rehabilitating the offender, so they can rejoin society and be less likely to offend in the future. This could mean mental health evaluation and treatment, addiction counseling, education and job training to help them learn a skill, and restorative justice. I'd say none of these things happened in a cave.
- beatgammit 7y ago17 years is a long time to think about what you've done, so it's very possible that he is no longer a threat to society. And if there's no evidence that he has committed crimes while living in the cave, how likely is he to commit crimes going forward? I think it should be brought in, evaluated, and released if he no longer poses a threat.
- wickedsickeune 7y ago> Punishment? This clearly was less harsh, or he would not prefer it. The fact that it was less harsh does not mean it was not harsh enough; meaning that chineese concentration camps might be disproportionately harsh to the crime (although his crimes were among the worst, so...) > Protecting society? He roams free. That's an exaggeration, I highly doubt that he could roam free. His maximum radius of travel must have been severly limited, given no access to transportation, plus it looks like so, as he did not move away from that, high risk area. > A deterrent? Leaving him there would send the message to others that escaping and evading capture is a viable route to freedom. Nonetheless, it is a viable route to freedom. It would be enforced/promoted if they left him though.
- magashna 7y agoIt's the same if not better compared to the alternative, right? Person isn't bothering society and the state isn't subsidizing their imprisonment. Exiling people kinda sounds like the best option unless you like punishment.
- blotter_paper 7y agoI really don't like the idea of keeping people in boxes, and agree that even in the case of the most wretched human being I'd rather have them free and alone than locked in a box without a goal besides punishment. However, this man's crime was human trafficing. Do you really want a human trafficer living in the woods like some kind of troll monster, ready to capture more children? That sounds like it could potentially result in more captive humans, rather than less.
- cameronbrown 7y agoBeing alone is not healthy whatsoever. I dread to think of his mental condition.
- GarrisonPrime 7y agoFence/wall off a large section of useless land in a temperate climate. Post the perimeter with motion-activated machine guns. Give the condemned a backpack of provisions, the cut them loose into the Exile Zone.
- pavel_lishin 7y agoSure, maybe we can also televise it. Maybe we can send people in to hunt them, too.
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago'The Island'
- sandworm101 7y agoHe wasnt "alone". He was getting food somewhere. He had lots of stuff he couldnt make himself. And someone had contact enough to report his location. Id bet he was stealing from locals.
- seanmcdirmid 7y agoThis was in rural China. He could have found work as a migrant and no one really cared much about documentation. He was also living near his hometown. So “cut off” is a bit less likely than mostly under the radar.
- chiefalchemist 7y agoI thought the same thing, but the article closes saying he had trouble communicating from not having done so for so long. Not sure how they determined that, but presuming it's true, then maybe he was truly alone.
- Gpetrium 7y agoIt is difficult to determine whether he was alone in a 'Wilson' Cast Away sense or if he was alone while watching others do their activities and stealing from them to support his necessities. These two environmental conditions can have varying impacts on a person's mind.
- jandrese 7y agoThere was a story of a kid up in Maine that ran away to live in the woods for 27 years. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/11/american-hermit-caught-27-years https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/11/american-hermi... He stole food and propane tanks from the vacation homes in the area. When he was eventually caught and put in jail for all of the theft people remarked at his strange use of language. They claimed he talked like a book. https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit
- melling 7y agoHe seemed to prefer his freedom to prison. I’m not sure why so many people think it’s an equivalent punishment. Don’t people think that he would’ve been willing to hurt others who crossed his path in order to keep his secret?
- ralfd 7y agoIt is practically "exile"?
- heavyset_go 7y agoSelf-imposed. He liked that option better than the others, which isn't a luxury most criminals get.
- njharman 7y ago"Exile" is far, far from "imprisoned". Many people, introverts, like me, are more annoyed by people than needing company. I've dreamed about living in exile out in the wilderness (it's too much effort and risk for me so I haven't). Other's have done it voluntarily. It's vastly better than prison.
- CriticalCathed 7y agoMany people think that the goal of prison shouldn't be punishment or retribution.
- beatgammit 7y agoThere's a reason they're called "correctional facilities". Unfortunately, they've become the opposite and we don't seem to care much about actually fixing anything. Also, the entire system is built around "justice", not retribution. People should only be imprisoned for as long as necessary to repay their debt to society or until they can prove they're no longer a threat to society (e.g. they've reformed), whichever happens first.
- umvi 7y ago
- hatsunearu 7y agoThat's the reason why the statute of limitations exist (at least one of em)
- candiodari 7y agoStatute of limitations applies BEFORE conviction, not after.
- sandworm101 7y agoBefore charges. The time between charges, trial and conviction is often far longer than the sol.
- candiodari 7y agoYou're right. Charges is what counts. I was wrong here.
- echelon 7y agoHe was already jailed, reportedly for for human trafficking. He escaped in the early 2000s.
- really3452 7y agoRight or wrong, a large function of the prison system is to ruin someone's life in a sufficiently public way for performing actions outside of the given society's norms and values to serve as a deterrent to those who would follow in their footsteps.
- megadopechos 7y agoHow does one preform actions? Also, you mention societies: how many and which societies are you referring to?
- mfoy_ 7y ago"How does one preform actions?" Is this some epistemological Zeno's paradox type incredulity?
- YaxelPerez 7y agoI think he's hung up on the misspelling of "perform"
- flmontpetit 7y agoIt feels like you're trying to argue for the sake of it
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- magashna 7y agoExcept that has never proven to reduce recidivism, and in the US seems to increase it. The Swedes seem to have much better luck with education, training, and rehabilitative options.
- RealityVoid 7y agoOp mentioned nothing about recidivism or it's usefulness to the prisoner. That's just about irrelevant if the intended desired effect is deterrence.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoThe article says he was imprisoned for "trafficking women and children." Assuming that's accurate and not Chinese propaganda, I'm fine with the idea of permanently cutting him off from potential victims.
- Kneecaps07 7y agoWhile I'm kind of on your side, there is an argument to be made for hauling him back in. If you know he's there and let him live there, you set a precedent: "It's OK to escape from prison as long as you live in the woods."
- mytailorisrich 7y agoI don't know in China but in many countries not only do they take you back to prison to resume time where you left off but evasion is a further offence that gets you extra time.
- sixplusone 7y agoThe other side of the punishment is to show to the victims and law abiding citizens that justice is carried out. The criminal has decided to break the social contract, our agreed rules and impinge on our peace and freedom; therefore society will now impose a sentence on him, restoring some balance, easing minds.