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A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

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Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#161

Post by hrjet »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #47

My thoughts on the best and the worst: > Anthony Jackson has a sixth-grade education and worked as a cook. He was convicted of burglary for stealing a wallet from a Myrtle Beach hotel room when he was 44 years old. According to prosecutors, he woke two vacationing golfers as he entered the room and stole a wallet, then pretended to be a security guard and ran away. Police arrested him when he tried to use the stolen…

> "When Aaron's co-worker woke up to find his truck missing, he reported it stolen"

What could have happened: Aaron requests truck for a day from room-mate. Room-mate agrees. But the company finds out about it and frowns. Mate says Aaron stole the truck, out of fear.

There are any number of ways this might have happened; and perhaps the case docs talk about it. But, in any case, life sentence seems harsh.

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#162

Post by baddox »

lostlogin wrote: post #33
spodek wrote: post #7

It's a crying shame. Normally that's an empty phrase, but it describes this. I can't imagine reading this and not feeling tears well up. No sense of what I would call humanity. From what perspective does this make the world a better place? What am I missing about being human that this fits into that I don't understand?

Failure to sign the Ottawa treaty (anti landmine) and the international criminal court agreements, execution of minors (and execution at all), assassination of opponents even if citizens (via drones), torture, war crimes, illegal invasions, use of phosphorus (probably comes under war crimes), continual killing of civilians in non declared wars, massive prison population, secret prisons, outsourcing torture, supportin…

> Who sees the US as a leader in human rights?

The vast majority of people who are raised in USA public schools.

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#163

Post by sliverstorm »

Anderkent wrote: post #53
thaumasiotes wrote: post #47

My thoughts on the best and the worst: > Anthony Jackson has a sixth-grade education and worked as a cook. He was convicted of burglary for stealing a wallet from a Myrtle Beach hotel room when he was 44 years old. According to prosecutors, he woke two vacationing golfers as he entered the room and stole a wallet, then pretended to be a security guard and ran away. Police arrested him when he tried to use the stolen…

Uh, why would he decline to press charges? The guy stole his truck. No idea why the article calls it 'borrowing'.

They are applying spin to fit their narrative.

This is the ACLU; they are both biased and good at spin.

(Which is not to say they are quacks, but know what you are dealing with)

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#165

Post by lancewiggs »

rfnslyr wrote: post #22
spodek wrote: post #7

It's a crying shame. Normally that's an empty phrase, but it describes this. I can't imagine reading this and not feeling tears well up. No sense of what I would call humanity. From what perspective does this make the world a better place? What am I missing about being human that this fits into that I don't understand?

Does anybody else constantly live in a state of guilt? So many lives lost and wars fought just to get us to where we are, and we reap the benefits. I feel so guilty for having a good paying job in the city. I'm not adding any value to the world, none at all. I tinker with a few codes every day and make silly amounts of money, when there's people struggling to put food on the table working 18 hour days. I need to do s…

I really liked this "own a problem" perspective from an HR post (1). Pick a problem to help solve, prioritise that and deprioritise everything else to solve it.

You can also shift to work for an institution which is genuinely trying to do good, such as the World Bank or a not-for-profit. Or you can do what you can from within your own organisation to get them to be working to improve the world rather than take advantage of it.

(1) http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/11/what-problem-will-you-own/

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#166

Post by refurb »

_xhok wrote: post #69

I have no words. None. At all. I'm going to be honest and say that in general I am anything but a compassion. I have every bit of sympathy, however, for (relatively) innocent people being victims of things like bureaucracy, human stupidity, laziness, or sheer scumfuckery. It's hard for me to imagine what was going on in those judges' heads, but chances are it's something I despise. This one was the worst for me: > Wh…

I'm pretty sure that story is missing some important details. First, how can you be charged with breaking into your own home?

It sounds like he broke into his stepfather's home, stole a gun and likely because of his criminal past got the book thrown at him. Breakings law is bad enough, but doing it while armed will get the book thrown at you.

I'm not saying mandatory minimums are right, they aren't. Why have judges if you aren't going to let them do the judging.

However, these stories don't seem to pass the sniff test.

EDIT: A few more important details about Lance..

"In March 2006, when he was 21, Saltzman came home to find his stepfather, Toni Minnick, and his mother, Christina Borg, were in a heated argument. His stepfather took his gun and pointed it at his mother. He fired it near her. His mother called the police. Police seized the gun then returned it to his stepfather days later. There were no charges filed. Again, his stepfather pulled the gun on his mother and threatened to kill his mother.

Saltzman decided that his stepfather should no longer have this firearm. He was likely to shoot and kill his mother. In June, he removed the gun from his stepfather’s bedroom and then sold the gun, according to evidence, to “feed his drug addiction.” It was later used in a burglary.

His stepfather found the gun missing and notified the police. Police found the gun “in the possession of the young man who had committed the burglary.” Saltzman was then charged with “armed burglary, grand theft of a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm—all for breaking into his own home and taking his stepfather’s gun.” Police also found cocaine in his car and he was charged with possession of cocaine."

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#167

Post by Jtsummers »

GuiA wrote: post #100
zaguios wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Killing someone actually ends up costing more than imprisoning them for life (Just an FYI). I do however agree with your point about what the goal of prison should be.

If our powers that be decided that the death penalty should be done in a cost-effective way, I'm sure they'd find a solution :)

It's less the cost of death vs life imprisonment, more the cost of appeals. Death is permanent, the appeals process is thorough (tragically, not thorough enough) in an effort to ensure that only those who are guilty are killed. Doesn't work very well, thus the moratorium and banning of it in some states when their leaders finally acknowledged the severity of the situation.

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#168

Post by thaumasiotes »

Jtsummers wrote: post #159
thaumasiotes wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I bet you wouldn't go for life in prison for someone who get three speeding tickets. Sure. > Once we agree that there is a line, then it just comes down to which side of the line a particular crime is on. I actually don't find this to follow, because your example is exceptionally poor. I don't favor speeding tickets at all; as far as I can see, they're just a way for governments to capriciously collect extra revenu…

> I don't favor speeding tickets at all; as far as I can see, they're just a way for governments to capriciously collect extra revenue from people without giving it the politically unpopular name of "taxes". > Repeated-burglaries guy is obviously opting out of functioning in society. If the cost of keeping him out of it exceeds the cost he inflicts by his presence, I'd say we should keep him incarcerated and spend le…

Two points:

- Driving below the speed of surrounding traffic is much more likely to cause an accident than driving at a "high" speed. The speed of traffic is essentially always above the speed limit. (Which might itself give you pause in characterizing it as "reckless, dangerous driving".)

- Reckless, dangerous driving is an independent offense, which can be (and is) charged separately from speeding.

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#169

Post by lostlogin »

cmccabe wrote: post #141
lostlogin wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure to sign the Ottawa treaty (anti landmine) and the international criminal court agreements, execution of minors (and execution at all), assassination of opponents even if citizens (via drones), torture, war crimes, illegal invasions, use of phosphorus (probably comes under war crimes), continual killing of civilians in non declared wars, massive prison population, secret prisons, outsourcing torture, supportin…

Three-strikes laws are dumb, but so are you. Take your anti-US agenda somewhere else. I suggest North Korea, China, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, or any of the other countries not allied with us, so you can see how much "better" they are.

My country of birth, New Zealand, has plenty of dark secrets of its own. It's not as simple as being with us or against us though, surely? There are plenty of countries that are worse than the US and there are also a fair few who are better. However there aren't any countries who have a bigger international profile everywhere I have ever been. Its a pity this isn't used to create more good.

Re: A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what?

#170

Post by smtddr »

grahamburger wrote: post #114
rfnslyr wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anybody else constantly live in a state of guilt? So many lives lost and wars fought just to get us to where we are, and we reap the benefits. I feel so guilty for having a good paying job in the city. I'm not adding any value to the world, none at all. I tinker with a few codes every day and make silly amounts of money, when there's people struggling to put food on the table working 18 hour days. I need to do s…

Remember that not everyone who is poor is unhappy.

...and not everyone who's rich, is happy...
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