5 ms·
The article says she faces upto 10 years in prison plus $250K fine. Doesn't 10 years in prison seem excessive for destroying two cars?
by justaguyhere 6y ago
The article says she faces upto 10 years in prison plus $250K fine. Doesn't 10 years in prison seem excessive for destroying two cars?
- nooneknowswhy 6y agoArson is FELONY
- jki275 6y agoThat's the maximum with all sentencing enhancements and such. It would be very rare for someone to get the maximum, there's a whole stack of formulas on how actual sentences get calculated, and most of them don't add up to something like that.
- mchusma 6y agoUnfortunately the US has an incarceration rate about 10X similar countries. A host of problems cause this, including large min and max sentences
- tzs 6y agoSentences in press releases and articles are usually greatly overstated. See "Crime: Whale Sushi. Sentence: ELEVENTY MILLION YEARS" [1] for an explanation. [1] https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentence-eleventy-million-years/ https://www.popehat.com/2013/02/05/crime-whale-sushi-sentenc...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- downerending 6y agoNo, it doesn't. As far as I'm concerned, violence or shit like this should draw life. The law-abiding public doesn't need to be exposed to people like this.
- chishaku 6y ago> The law-abiding public You’ve violated numerous laws whether you know it or not. > violence, or shit like this Should white collar crime that destroys 1, 10 or 100 lives also “draw life”? Why or why not?
- downerending 6y agoI've done nothing like this. Nor have most people.
- chishaku 6y agoI didn't mean to imply that you did. You're advocating for arbitrarily cruel punishment that is out of line with sentencing guidelines in the US and international human rights conventions more broadly. Given that, I'm asking where you draw the line when it comes to "violence" and if you'd be satified to see significantly more people imprisoned for life.
- downerending 6y agoAt least in the US, far more people should be removed from society, yes. Even a brief search will turn up large numbers of rapists and murderers (for example) that are sentenced and released over and over again. This is indeed arbitrarily cruel to law-abiding citizens. As far as it goes, I think conditions in prisons should be far nicer than they are now. In these days of videoconferencing, it needn't be very different than lockdown. I don't believe in punishment; I believe in permanent removal from society.
- jeffdavis 6y agoArson laws were designed around the idea that fires sometimes go out of control and cause huge amounts of damage, and potentially loss of life. Laws are also designed around intent rather than outcome. So there are harsh punishments for intending to start/spread any kind of fire, even if it looks unlikely to go out of control in this particular case. Also, it's unlikely that she'll really get 10 years without someone being hurt in the process. If I were to highlight excessive penalties, I'd probably point to drug crimes rather than arson. I don't think lighting fires should be a part of the protest landscape.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jussij 6y agoNot as bad as 38 years in prison for a $9 robbery. https://www.essence.com/news/willie-simmons-life-prison-alabama-habitual-offender/ https://www.essence.com/news/willie-simmons-life-prison-alab...