3 ms·
The acts of this individual demonstrated that he was unable to operate within the bounds of human society. 11 years is about right in relation to other sentence
by rms 17y ago
The acts of this individual demonstrated that he was unable to operate within the bounds of human society. 11 years is about right in relation to other sentences with the US justice system, but that presupposes that the US justice system is fair and proper.
I don't believe the purpose of prison is punishment. I think the US system of prisons is cruel, unusual and close to insane. People are regularly threatened with rape in prisons and a lot of average US citizens think this is perfectly acceptable. This unconstitutional system is terrible for our society, as it churns out repeat offenders.
Look at the Norwegian prison system for something that is sane. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/14/norway-prison-erwin-james http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/14/norway-prison-...
- eru 17y agoThey are not only threatened with rape.
- jibiki 17y agoAccording to the article, Norway has a mere three thousand prisoners out of a population of four million. I really don't think America (which incarcerates people at about ten times that rate) could afford Norwegian style prisons.
- wheels 17y agoI don't think you can decouple the process of incarceration and the number of people incarcerated. If a functional penal system actually helps to curb society's fundamental problems rather than simply concentrating the undesirables, there's a feedback loop that affects the number of people incarcerated. In other words: fix the problem, don't just push it away.