And, for the most part, it has no idea what it's trying to do which is part of the problem.
Some prisons try to rehabilitate. Others punish. Others just take people out of society and later drop them back in again.
The legal system (in my personal opinion only naturally) should never be about 'punishment'. If deterrence really worked, it could be, but it's been pretty well proven that going to jail or even being executed isn't a deterrent. People do stupid and criminal things even knowing full well what the consequences are because in that moment, they aren't thinking of legal consequences.
It can't be about revenge - that' pointless and lowers the state to a pretty abominable level.
It has to be about the one thing that makes logical sense. Public safety and the good of society. That means it should 'triage' prisoners. Those it can rehab - it should. Those it cannot rehab but who aren't obscenely dangerous (or ABSOLUTELY proven guilty) it should remove from society. Those who ARE dangerous, who will re-offend and who are CERTAIN to be the perpetrator, it should execute. That last would be a very small number, however.
Some prisons try to rehabilitate. Others punish. Others just take people out of society and later drop them back in again.
The legal system (in my personal opinion only naturally) should never be about 'punishment'. If deterrence really worked, it could be, but it's been pretty well proven that going to jail or even being executed isn't a deterrent. People do stupid and criminal things even knowing full well what the consequences are because in that moment, they aren't thinking of legal consequences.
It can't be about revenge - that' pointless and lowers the state to a pretty abominable level.
It has to be about the one thing that makes logical sense. Public safety and the good of society. That means it should 'triage' prisoners. Those it can rehab - it should. Those it cannot rehab but who aren't obscenely dangerous (or ABSOLUTELY proven guilty) it should remove from society. Those who ARE dangerous, who will re-offend and who are CERTAIN to be the perpetrator, it should execute. That last would be a very small number, however.
May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk.
Old Egyptian Blessing
Old Egyptian Blessing
A level-of-comfort question regarding imprisonment of mixed innocent and guilty groups.
- 05/03/2010 02:39:53 AM
328 Views
as things stands, I don't think we'd ever reach a level where that'd be necessary oO
- 05/03/2010 03:24:07 AM
208 Views
100%
- 05/03/2010 03:47:31 AM
214 Views
Law of averages says there are certainly many innocent people in prison.
- 05/03/2010 04:09:41 AM
200 Views
Doesn't matter
- 05/03/2010 04:22:19 AM
189 Views
Clarification: X% of them definitely did not meet the standards of reasonable doubt.
- 05/03/2010 09:44:09 PM
174 Views
A relevant question; it seems to hinge on where one draws the line.
- 05/03/2010 04:19:34 AM
177 Views
I never really liked silly questions like this
- 05/03/2010 02:23:36 PM
206 Views
If there were 2,000,000 innocent and only 1 guilty, retrying everyone would not be practical.
- 05/03/2010 09:22:16 PM
179 Views
That's silly though
- 05/03/2010 09:39:53 PM
186 Views
Re: That's silly though
- 05/03/2010 11:11:50 PM
193 Views
Re: That's silly though
- 06/03/2010 12:11:06 AM
177 Views
what does the chance of reoffending have to do with guilt?
- 05/03/2010 10:02:21 PM
166 Views
Debt can be paid off, leaving the question of rehabilitation. *NM*
- 05/03/2010 10:32:38 PM
67 Views
I still don't see the realtionship to guilt
- 05/03/2010 10:59:28 PM
159 Views
Re: I still don't see the realtionship to guilt
- 05/03/2010 11:31:51 PM
173 Views
there is a reason they call it the justice system and not the rehabilation system
- 05/03/2010 11:33:55 PM
190 Views
It's called all kinds of things
- 06/03/2010 12:02:00 AM
188 Views
Re: It's called all kinds of things
- 06/03/2010 05:44:32 AM
176 Views
Well, we aren't going to agree at all (and I DID say it was opinion)
- 07/03/2010 09:00:37 AM
151 Views