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> serving a 25-year prison sentence for rigging computers to win lottery jackpots for himself, friends and family This is outrageously absurd a human has been

> serving a 25-year prison sentence for rigging computers to win lottery jackpots for himself, friends and family This is outrageously absurd a human has been put in prison, let alone for 25 years, for such a bullshit reason. Many murderers and rapists in many countries get less.

Broken_Hippo 5y ago
Many murderers and rapists in the same country get less. Much less.
Beltalowda 5y ago
The NYT article says: "In Iowa, which has indeterminate sentencing, a 25-year sentence could mean Tipton is released much sooner; Sand expects Tipton to be released by the Iowa Board of Parole within seven years." Turns out that "indeterminate sentencing" works by giving a range (min to max years), and after min years the parole board will evaluate the case and, apparently, often release people well before the max years.
- mschuster91 5y ago
  What the f..k? From the prisoner's perspective, that's as if their freedom would be subject to a gamble, and a rigged one at that given discrimination issues.
  - mannykannot 5y ago
    It is not plausible that a fixed-term alternative would be the smaller of the two numbers. Discrimination is a serious issue, but orthogonal to this mode of sentencing. The possibility of parole is generally regarded as a progressive measure, and abolishing it would not help with the discrimination problem.
    - mschuster91 5y ago
      In Germany, we have the possibilities fixed at half-time and 2/3rds.
  - yucky 5y ago
    The parole board is a gamble to some extent, but it's better than the alternative. No possibility of getting out early eliminates the need to be on your best behavior in prison, which creates a bigger management nightmare. So you sentence someone to 2-10 years and the idea is if they behave they get out in 2 years. If they don't behave, they will have to try again each year to convince the parole board they are no longer a problem, or if they never get their act together then they are released at the 10 year mark (this is called maxing out). Oftentimes for non-violent crimes they get their parole automatically at the minimum time without having to see the parole board, unless they became a management nightmare in prison.
- qwerty456127 5y ago
  Whatever, anything above 1 year is too much for such a crime. Gaming a lottery is nothing comparable to a violent crime. I would say just confiscate what he won + enforcement expenses + some months of forced labor removing graffiti.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    If that was the punishment, what would you (hypothetical, no evidence it happened) do about his sister, best friend and college roommate all having won in the past year? Or the money he already spent or moved out of the country? I'm a fan of sophisticated white collar criminals going to jail for longer, and drug users and nonviolent dealers not.
    - qwerty456127 5y ago
      > sister, best friend and college roommate all having one If proven guilty - the same. > Or the money he already spent or moved out of the country? I dunno. Whatever. Take all but the essential belongings he has perhaps. Force to more labor. Adding prison years will hardly serve any good purpose anyway. > I'm a fan of sophisticated white collar criminals going to jail for longer, and drug users and nonviolent dealers not. Me too. But white collar criminals gaming the state and their own employees are one thing, a lottery - another. In general I'd leave anything about lotteries to be free wild west. A lottery is a gamble, whoever chooses to take any part in a lottery takes the risk. As long as there is no violence taking place I actually don't think it's necessary to interfere at all.

Broken_Hippo 5y ago

Many murderers and rapists in the same country get less. Much less.

Beltalowda 5y ago

The NYT article says: "In Iowa, which has indeterminate sentencing, a 25-year sentence could mean Tipton is released much sooner; Sand expects Tipton to be released by the Iowa Board of Parole within seven years." Turns out that "indeterminate sentencing" works by giving a range (min to max years), and after min years the parole board will evaluate the case and, apparently, often release people well before the max years.

mschuster91 5y ago
What the f..k? From the prisoner's perspective, that's as if their freedom would be subject to a gamble, and a rigged one at that given discrimination issues.
- mannykannot 5y ago
  It is not plausible that a fixed-term alternative would be the smaller of the two numbers. Discrimination is a serious issue, but orthogonal to this mode of sentencing. The possibility of parole is generally regarded as a progressive measure, and abolishing it would not help with the discrimination problem.
  - mschuster91 5y ago
    In Germany, we have the possibilities fixed at half-time and 2/3rds.
- yucky 5y ago
  The parole board is a gamble to some extent, but it's better than the alternative. No possibility of getting out early eliminates the need to be on your best behavior in prison, which creates a bigger management nightmare. So you sentence someone to 2-10 years and the idea is if they behave they get out in 2 years. If they don't behave, they will have to try again each year to convince the parole board they are no longer a problem, or if they never get their act together then they are released at the 10 year mark (this is called maxing out). Oftentimes for non-violent crimes they get their parole automatically at the minimum time without having to see the parole board, unless they became a management nightmare in prison.
qwerty456127 5y ago
Whatever, anything above 1 year is too much for such a crime. Gaming a lottery is nothing comparable to a violent crime. I would say just confiscate what he won + enforcement expenses + some months of forced labor removing graffiti.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  If that was the punishment, what would you (hypothetical, no evidence it happened) do about his sister, best friend and college roommate all having won in the past year? Or the money he already spent or moved out of the country? I'm a fan of sophisticated white collar criminals going to jail for longer, and drug users and nonviolent dealers not.
  - qwerty456127 5y ago
    > sister, best friend and college roommate all having one If proven guilty - the same. > Or the money he already spent or moved out of the country? I dunno. Whatever. Take all but the essential belongings he has perhaps. Force to more labor. Adding prison years will hardly serve any good purpose anyway. > I'm a fan of sophisticated white collar criminals going to jail for longer, and drug users and nonviolent dealers not. Me too. But white collar criminals gaming the state and their own employees are one thing, a lottery - another. In general I'd leave anything about lotteries to be free wild west. A lottery is a gamble, whoever chooses to take any part in a lottery takes the risk. As long as there is no violence taking place I actually don't think it's necessary to interfere at all.