4 ms·

That's how I think about a lot of sentencing. Take sex offenders. After they are let out of prison, they have to register as a sex offender, can only live in ce

That's how I think about a lot of sentencing. Take sex offenders. After they are let out of prison, they have to register as a sex offender, can only live in certain areas, etc., which is equivalent to a life sentence. We can debate the kind of punishment sex offenders deserve (and don't judge too quickly - urinating in public, statutory rape of a minor 6 months younger than yourself, visiting a prostitute, and even sexting if you are a minor all qualify as sex offenses. [0]) But my point is, if we are going to punish someone for life, let's be open and clear about it. Never being able to escape the year you spent in prison 25 years ago is torturous. It's no wonder recidivism is so high in the US. [0] http://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-things-that-could-make-you-a-sex-offender-2013-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/surprising-things-that-could-...

bequanna 12y ago
> That's how I think about a lot of sentencing. Take sex offenders. After they are let out of prison, they have to register as a sex offender, can only live in certain areas, etc., which is equivalent to a life sentence. The truth appears to be that the general public is OK with this kind of discrimination. Commit a crime, go to jail, get marked for life. It sucks. Make a dumb mistake when you're 17, and you're screwed. We need to start doing a better job separating the people we're mad at vs. the people we're scared of. Scaling back drug arrests (especially marijuana) is a step in the right direction.
cubano 12y ago
> It's no wonder recidivism is so high in the US. To those who make very comfortable livings in the US legal system, that is not a bug, it's a designed feature. Oh, and oddly enough, they happen to be the same people whom make the sentencing laws.
- spopejoy 12y ago
  I realize it's fun to paint lawyers with the same brush, but let's be clear here: prosecutors are the ones gunning after constant guilty convictions, and the Roberts Supreme Court has stripped even the most basic ways to challenge their abuses.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    Cite on Roberts? See also: Judge Alex Kozinski, 9th Circuit Appeals. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/opinion/sunday/rampant-prosecutorial-misconduct.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/opinion/sunday/rampant-pro... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski
    - spopejoy 12y ago
      Read Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" for cite after cite. My copy is lent out to a friend and the internet isn't bringing up specific cases. Excellent, irrefutable and seriously depressing book.
  - cubano 12y ago
    Right...they sure are, and I know from direct experience. However, paid defense lawyers sure get a nice dividend from these recidivists. Cops get the jobs, status, and power they seek from arresting them. The prison industrial complex owes it's entire business model to them (as first-timers rarely get state prison time), and the last time I checked, DOC was the largest state budget item for CA and FL (I'll admit to maybe being a little off here) Need I go on?
    - spopejoy 12y ago
      Agreed, the fact that we even talk about a "business model" for incarceration is horrific. Indeed much of NY state is economically dependent on corrections, it's ugly. Still, lawyers aren't getting rich defending the masses of underprivileged felons filling our prisons. Defending these folks is a pretty honorable task.

bequanna 12y ago

> That's how I think about a lot of sentencing. Take sex offenders. After they are let out of prison, they have to register as a sex offender, can only live in certain areas, etc., which is equivalent to a life sentence. The truth appears to be that the general public is OK with this kind of discrimination. Commit a crime, go to jail, get marked for life. It sucks. Make a dumb mistake when you're 17, and you're screwed. We need to start doing a better job separating the people we're mad at vs. the people we're scared of. Scaling back drug arrests (especially marijuana) is a step in the right direction.

cubano 12y ago

> It's no wonder recidivism is so high in the US. To those who make very comfortable livings in the US legal system, that is not a bug, it's a designed feature. Oh, and oddly enough, they happen to be the same people whom make the sentencing laws.

spopejoy 12y ago
I realize it's fun to paint lawyers with the same brush, but let's be clear here: prosecutors are the ones gunning after constant guilty convictions, and the Roberts Supreme Court has stripped even the most basic ways to challenge their abuses.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  Cite on Roberts? See also: Judge Alex Kozinski, 9th Circuit Appeals. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/opinion/sunday/rampant-prosecutorial-misconduct.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/opinion/sunday/rampant-pro... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski
  - spopejoy 12y ago
    Read Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" for cite after cite. My copy is lent out to a friend and the internet isn't bringing up specific cases. Excellent, irrefutable and seriously depressing book.
- cubano 12y ago
  Right...they sure are, and I know from direct experience. However, paid defense lawyers sure get a nice dividend from these recidivists. Cops get the jobs, status, and power they seek from arresting them. The prison industrial complex owes it's entire business model to them (as first-timers rarely get state prison time), and the last time I checked, DOC was the largest state budget item for CA and FL (I'll admit to maybe being a little off here) Need I go on?
  - spopejoy 12y ago
    Agreed, the fact that we even talk about a "business model" for incarceration is horrific. Indeed much of NY state is economically dependent on corrections, it's ugly. Still, lawyers aren't getting rich defending the masses of underprivileged felons filling our prisons. Defending these folks is a pretty honorable task.