Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

I lost my dad to cancer. I was very much furious with cancer while being well aware of the irrationality of feeling that way. Still am, and it's been a few years. It's easy to be furious at cancer, and the pure random destructive wastefulness of it.

Restorative Justice means different things in different [US] states and counties, for different types of crime, it depends on whether the state's attitude to felony convictions and expungement is medieval or not (like in FL, KY), and the wide discretion prosecutors have to charge/plead something as a felony, misdemeanor or not to charge at all, plus the discretion police have on what to arrest for. And especially, it depends on the DA, who is an elected official:

* That HiddenBrain story was about a VA conviction for felony grand larceny for stealing a bike whose value exceeded the grand larceny threshold ($1000). In that case the victim (an English guy who supported the UK equivalent) emphatically did consent to restorative justice approach and expected a non-custodial conviction could be quickly expunged, but the VA system doesn't work that way. So all his intervention effectively did was spare jail time to the thief, but not all the other consequences.

* Compare to the 2021 Oakland, CA gang-related freeway shooting death of 23mo toddler Jasper Wu [0] in a rolling gunbattle between two rival gangs (one of them using an AR-15) on highway I-880 at 2:07pm in the afternoon, Wu was hit in the head by a stray 7.62mm rifle bullet in the rear of his mother's car. Three accused were charged with murder (one since had charges dropped), but then 4/2023 [1], new incoming DA Pamela Price, in the name of restorative justice, wrote an internal memo of her intention to "bring balance back to sentencing and reduce recidivism"- by not allowing prosecutors to "file or require defendants plead to sentencing enhancements." Not adding the special circumstances charge would drastically reduce any likely sentences, and exclude a life sentence (Price points out that she did add the gang-enhancer, but not the special circumstances charge) [3]. The victim's family were not consulted before Price's decision, and objected. [2] Price sent a series of emails to members of the Asian American community and county supervisors. In one, she claims "certain vocal members of the local Chinese community and media including reporter Dion Lim... misled the public." In another email one week later, Price addresses "Chinese communities" calling many "misinformed" and blamed [them] for "spreading misinformation."

The matter is pretty politically divisive in the East Bay [3]. DA Price refuses to budge on this and there is currently in 2024 a major recall effort against her [4].

These two cases are pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum to each other. They also show how politicized the actions of an elected DA can be, depending on the mood of the electorate that put them in office. They also show that DAs can completely disregard the victim's/family's wishes.

[0]: ABC7News 12/2022: Jasper Wu case timeline: A 13-month investigation into Oakland freeway shooting death of toddler https://abc7news.com/jasper-wu-oakland-freeway-shooting-todd...

[1]: 3/2023 Jasper Wu's family voices concerns over murder suspects' possible shorter sentences https://abc7news.com/jasper-wu-alameda-county-district-attor...

[2]: 4/2023 After meeting with DA Price, Jasper Wu's family is still worried they won't get 'justice' https://abc7news.com/alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela...

[3]: 6/2023 Jasper Wu case: murder suspects appear in court, charges reduced in toddler's slaying https://www.ktvu.com/news/jasper-wu-case-murder-suspects-app...

[4[: Alameda County DA Pamela Price https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Price

There are the stories he tells about himself, his intentions, and his beliefs. Then, there are the cold hard facts.

Even if you wanted to believe his statements, they do not align at all with his actions.

After a new-years eve terrorist attack in Europe a few years ago, a former colleague (who was in a different country) told me she “would now never go to a public space for a new year celebration”. But she drove a car to and from work every week day. We over estimate the risk of things we have no control over, but as soon as we have even a little bit of control, we underestimate the risk.

>And, btw, you might well have turned out the same way under similar circumstances, but for the grace of god.

that criteria is applicable to literally any criminal, ever. It's effectively useless as a statement about crime and punishment, although it serves as a useful reminder to those not condemned.

>2) SBF has severe moral deficiencies and belongs in prison for a long time, but not because he is "evil".

moral standpoint doesn't put you in shackles, poor judgement when comparing your morality with that of society is what does that.

finance is one of the most amoral industries to ever exist. They sit next to weapons and land-mine manufacturers, as far as i'm concerned.

Amorality is a benefit to the financier, the trick is finding someone that is amorale while also retaining a powerful enough understanding of the law and governing society that they can get away with enacting their deviousness without fear of prosecution.

SBFs morality doesn't matter -- what broke him was his poor judgement and overzealous confidence. We're not condemning him for his morality, that just speaks better to the court; he's in trouble because his plans backfired and money was lost for important people.

(p.s. we don't imprison people for being 'amorale', whatever that might mean from whoever is saying it.)