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A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

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Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#91

Post by slayed0 »

downandout wrote: post #82
waterfowl wrote: post #29

The insanity of the charges/sentencing reminds me of a passage from The Hot House (which is excellent, Pete Earley somehow got permission to go mingle with prisoners at USP Leavenworth for a year and write about it). A Bank Robber, 45 'They originally charged me with murder, kidnapping, and bank robbery, but I'm really just a bank robber with really bad luck. You see, my buddy and me were robbing this bank, and when…

If you think this sentence was unjust, there is another Colorado prisoner named Michael Dipentino. He is currently serving a 305 year sentence. What was his heinous crime? According to the Denver DA [1] he created phony checks to buy $200,000 worth of postage stamps, that he later pawned or resold. He was facing a minimum of 96 years after his conviction, but the judge decided to give him 305 years. The "justice" sys…

It looks like that guy actually has a blog[1]. Not sure how he has internet access in prison but it looks fairly interesting.

[1]http://mjdipentino.blogspot.com/

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#92

Post by happyscrappy »

kazinator wrote: post #61
happyscrappy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I wanted to murder someone what would be the best country to do it? Obviously not the US. Edit: I mean get caught, do my time and be on my way.

Arguably, the best country to murder someone (as in, get away with it) would be any dictatorship where you are one of the thugs employed by the murderous regime, with the task of making people "disappear". Also, in any country in which the justice system is broken, you can murder people and get away with it by getting a job as an executioner. What your state considers a lawful execution is regarded as murder in the e…

Why do all that work when you can do it in Canada, serve a few years and get on with your life?

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#93

Post by speeder »

sickpig wrote: post #64
speeder wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the country maybe? Here in Brazil no one believes criminals can be fixed, here we want them away, locked up or dead.

They should change name from correctional facilities to something else then. Joking aside, I think that using prisons just for isolation is a waste of tax payer money. Just think about at the case at hand, we are wasting the money needed to keep this guy in jail for another 8 decades with no actual reasons. edit: fix grammar

Where, here in Brasil they are not called Correctional Facility!

In fact the only place where I saw "Correctional Facility" was in US-movies and series, I thought it was some fictional name or something like that.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#94

Post by song »

mineshaftgap wrote: post #11
nfoz wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why, what would be your concern? Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Germany/Uni... Murder rate for 2011 (Homicide rate per year per 100,000 inhabitants): Germany: 0.86. USA: 5. That's nearly 6x as many murders per capita in the USA than Germany.

Germans don't cross an empty street against the light and register with the police every time they move. I am not sure you can really compare the two.

I've spent quite some time in Germany and well I'm sorry to shatter your bubble but Germans do cross an empty street when the light is red. I've even seen people party in nightclubs and go outside to drink vodka or other drinks they bought in their car.

And to further tear your argument, Spanish who have a "reputation" in Europe of crossing by red light and of having a bit more of loose attitude towards rules have a similar murder rate. 0.9 for Spain, 0.86 for Germany.

I think the factors are external rather than internal. I don't know exactly what causes it though. The higher availability of guns in the US? The fact that the prison system in the US does not reform but punishes instead and convert first time convicts into hardened criminals? Other factors?

I don't know but having lived in all three countries, I don't see that many differences in term of people's character that could explain the difference in murder rate.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#95

Post by nyhc99 »

sickpig wrote: post #44
sparkzilla wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main function of prisons is to keep the criminals away from law-abiding society. Note that the guy's accomplice continued his criminal behavior inside prison. That said, 10-15 is more than enough for this kind of crime.

The main function of prisons is to keep the criminals away from law-abiding society Really? I thought it was about correcting/reforming.

So an 18 year old kid gets busted for a drug offense. He gets thrown in jail for several years along with hardened and violent criminals. His "rehabilitation" consists of an immersion in a world of criminality, and when he is finally released, he has a record that will stay with him for the rest of his life and severely limit his choices moving forward.

Yes, he's been reformed. Just not in a good way. Not in a way that does anything to try to fit him back into society.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#96

Post by bradleyjg »

sickpig wrote: post #44
sparkzilla wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main function of prisons is to keep the criminals away from law-abiding society. Note that the guy's accomplice continued his criminal behavior inside prison. That said, 10-15 is more than enough for this kind of crime.

The main function of prisons is to keep the criminals away from law-abiding society Really? I thought it was about correcting/reforming.

The four recognized purposes of punishment are: deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. Which is primary, or even whether they are all legitimate is a matter of fierce debate.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#97

Post by vacri »

ChrisBland wrote: post #45
joshstrange wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention they slapped them with kidnapping charges because they forced the people they were robbing into a room.... How the fuck.... The sad truth is the American people simply do not care. Period. If you are a criminal you are a nobody and you get everything you deserve in the eyes of many Americans. People sit and rot in prison for the stupidest of reasons or technicalities and then when they get out we are s…

I think its easy to say that sitting in your chair from this side. I would imagine that if I was one of the people in the bank that was being robbed, and I were forced in to a room. I would feel that I was being kidnapped / held hostage.

Do you think that because you and a colleague were held hostage ('kidnapped' is ridiculous, not even taken off-site) that it's worth each perpetrator getting about 30 years in prison? That that moment of fear is worth locking someone up for a generation and a half? That that moment of fear is even worth you paying taxes to keep that person locked up for that time?

30 years ago, the Cold War was still in full swing. Mutually Assured Destruction was still something people were afraid of. The world wide web was still about 10 years away. USA for Africa's "We Are The World" was just about to hit #1 in the charts. Big hair and legwarmers were fashionable. Half the people that use this site hadn't even been born yet. 30 years is an incredibly long time.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#98

Post by downandout »

The worst part of this, IMO, is how the mistake was discovered. His former prosecutor was looking up his old cases on the state DOC's website, apparently to delight in the damage he had caused decades earlier. You would have to be a pretty depraved person to derive pleasure from unjustly taking away someone's life.

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#99

Post by CompuHacker »

venomsnake wrote: post #75
happyscrappy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I wanted to murder someone what would be the best country to do it? Obviously not the US. Edit: I mean get caught, do my time and be on my way.

Antarctica?

Good luck going anywhere after you say "No, I don't know where Jack is. Maybe we should head back to the ship without him."

Re: A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early

#100

Post by vacri »

yodsanklai wrote: post #24
joshstrange wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI "because I want the person to suffer" is not a valid reason to lock someone up. We lock people up as a punishment just like your parents may have sent you to your room when you were acting up. We do it under the thinking of they won't do it again once they've paid their debt but that thinking is flawed on SO many level. Among them are: 1. Prison does NOT reform people in fact it pushes many deeper into a life of…

> FYI "because I want the person to suffer" is not a valid reason to lock someone up. I don't know if it's valid, but it certainly a reason why we lock people up. "An eye for an eye" is a universal principle and I assume victims expect some type of revenge. Maybe that's something we should refrain from in a perfect world, but I don't think we're there yet!

"An eye for an eye" is a universal principle

No, it's not. It's a common desire, but it is not universal. And plenty of victims of various crimes don't want revenge, but to just put the whole affair behind them.

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