My life after 44 years in prison • Hacker News Board

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#31

Post by vacri » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:24 PM UTC

mrec wrote: post #19

badloginagain wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised the sentences stack, I would have expected that if you have 5 jail-terms assigned to you, you would serve until the longest one. American law sure favours punishment.

Once you'd committed one crime, that would remove the primary deterrent against committing more (as long as they were no more serious than the first).

It doesn't seem to be working that way as a deterrent, then, given that the US has an incarceration rate five times higher than it's developed-nation contemporaries (750/100k vs ~100-150/100k population).

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#32

Post by redml » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:24 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #5

44 years for attempted murder of a police officer, I guess with such a benchmark the next police officer murdering a civilian will be sentenced to at least double that given that they're supposed to set an example. Incredible. What standard of sentencing would essentially take someone's life away for an attempt . Makes you wonder how big a sentence you'd get if you succeeded, more than a lifetime?

If someone attempted to murder you, what do you think would be a suitable punishment for that person? Honest question. If they were in jail for a short amount of time you'd probably be a bit worried that they would come find you after and finish the job.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#33

Post by mahyarm » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #23

kazinator wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should be treated differently because a fist is not considered a priori a deadly weapon. Punching someone isn't the use of lethal force. Death is almost certainly an unintended consequence of a punch. Whereas, by contrast, the absence of death is the unintended consequence of, say, a shooting or stabbing (in any vital area of the body). We can't go easy on an attempted murdered just because, luckily, the victim…

Well friend, you haven't met my fists then. You might change your mind on fists not being a deadly weapon.

Long time ago, someone told me that assaulting someone as a trained black belt martial artist makes your assaults 'assault with a deadly weapon'. So they actually might of made the adjustment in those cases.

I was 10 years old when I was told this, so big grain of salt.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#34

Post by chasing » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:38 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #5

44 years for attempted murder of a police officer, I guess with such a benchmark the next police officer murdering a civilian will be sentenced to at least double that given that they're supposed to set an example. Incredible. What standard of sentencing would essentially take someone's life away for an attempt . Makes you wonder how big a sentence you'd get if you succeeded, more than a lifetime?

Just to note, our society oftentimes makes penalties much worse when the crimes are against officers of the state. Like police officers. Or judges. Or the President. And it makes sense that someone shouldn't see killing a cop as a viable means of escaping arrest or what-have-you, just as they shouldn't see murdering a judge (or threatening) as a viable means to get a judgment in their favor.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#35

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:41 PM UTC

vacri wrote: post #31

mrec wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you'd committed one crime, that would remove the primary deterrent against committing more (as long as they were no more serious than the first).

It doesn't seem to be working that way as a deterrent, then, given that the US has an incarceration rate five times higher than it's developed-nation contemporaries (750/100k vs ~100-150/100k population).

[deleted]

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#36

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

redml wrote: post #32

jacquesm wrote: post #5

44 years for attempted murder of a police officer, I guess with such a benchmark the next police officer murdering a civilian will be sentenced to at least double that given that they're supposed to set an example. Incredible. What standard of sentencing would essentially take someone's life away for an attempt . Makes you wonder how big a sentence you'd get if you succeeded, more than a lifetime?

If someone attempted to murder you, what do you think would be a suitable punishment for that person? Honest question. If they were in jail for a short amount of time you'd probably be a bit worried that they would come find you after and finish the job.

I think after 44 years I'd feel pretty safe.

Attempted murder of a head of state, maybe 25 years or so? Assuming pre-meditation. Attempted murder of myself, 10 years at most, if not pre-meditated, otherwise if it was pre-meditated then some more, but with a chance of parole given good behaviour and maybe psychiatric observation.

Aggravating or other circumstances should be taken into account too, I'm sure that those judges would do their best.

44 years is excessive, by any measure. You're simply not talking about the same person any more. 22 -> 66, that's a life gone. Does the guy in that article look like a serious threat to you? To the officer he tried to kill? To anybody else?

All I see is an old guy who made a really bad dumb move when he was a lot younger, and probably a whole angrier than today. I also question the extra months after he served the many many years for a shoplifting charge when he was 17. That's just revenge, it has nothing to do with justice or having the best of society at heart.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#37

Post by tomcam » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:47 PM UTC

MIKarlsen wrote: post #15

tomcam wrote: post #7

Don't understand the title--article is not in first person

But the video is somewhat first person.

Thank you. I didn't even realize there was a video :-O

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#38

Post by juhanima » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:47 PM UTC

tosseraccount wrote: post #25

lemevi wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Crime & Punishment Rodya only has to serve 8 years for the double axe murder of two women in the commission of a robbery. It's a fictional tale about justice in 19th century Russia, but still an interesting comparison I think of when reading about modern sentencing.

Wasn't "8 years in Siberia" likely a death sentence?

Not in the imperial time, no. Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead is an interesting account of his time in Siberia, and it wasn't all that bad.

It was different in Stalin's time, though. Varlam Shalamov's Kolyma tales tells a very different story. But even he survived after having served 15 years.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#39

Post by bzz01 » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 9:58 PM UTC

derekp7 wrote: post #9

temuze wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think attempted crimes should get the same sentence as successful crimes. Imagine two people stabbed identical twins in the same spot with the same intent at the same time. One dies, one lives. Should they get different sentences? It's just a roll of the dice.

What if you turn this around -- two people punch two identical twins in the face. One twin dies from his injuries, and the person who punched him now faces at least involuntary manslaughter, whereas the other person just has a light assault charge. Should both people get charged with involuntary manslaughter, or should they both just get the lighter assault charge?

Good point. One answer is that manslaughter is already a special case, as it doesn't require intent to kill anyway, only negligence.

Re: My life after 44 years in prison

#40

Post by seesomesense » Wed, Nov 25, 2015, 10:00 PM UTC

id wrote: post #3

I wasn't aware that there was a "Steve Jobs era".

It happened at the around the same time as the Jack Welch era and a little after the Charles Kettering era. It will be just as well known as those in 20 years.