A man who was accidentally released from prison 88 years early • Hacker News Board

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

#151

Post by jessaustin » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 12:37 AM UTC

nknighthb wrote: post #143

venomsnake wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are enough federal inmates with good reasons for pardon. And mass pardons of federal prison could hint the governors about their power too.

1) The governors have powers that vary from zilch to equal to the President's. This is determined state-by-state. 2) You are mistaken if you believe all or even a substantial minority of the governors would ever agree with your views in this matter.

The Colorado governor may pardon any Colorado conviction other than those for treason or impeachment. The entire point of this thread is that the governors are culpable for the injustice of the system. Their opinions don't absolve them of that.

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

#152

Post by nknighthb » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 12:40 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #151

nknighthb wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) The governors have powers that vary from zilch to equal to the President's. This is determined state-by-state. 2) You are mistaken if you believe all or even a substantial minority of the governors would ever agree with your views in this matter.

The Colorado governor may pardon any Colorado conviction other than those for treason or impeachment. The entire point of this thread is that the governors are culpable for the injustice of the system. Their opinions don't absolve them of that.

The comment I responded to said "And mass pardons of federal prison could hint the governors about their power too.". This suggests two mistaken beliefs:

1) That governors as a whole have these powers.

2) That "hints about their power" would prompt them to act in the manner he wishes.

The governors don't need hints about their power in this area, they are well aware of it. They don't fail to exercise it as he wants them to because they need a "hint", they fail to exercise it as he wants them to because they do not agree with him.

I'm not addressing the thread as a whole. I'm addressing this little corner of it. I'm under no obligation to address the thread as a whole in every comment I make, and doing so would be both pointless and tiring.

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

#153

Post by slavik81 » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 12:42 AM UTC

kazinator wrote: post #54

mschuster91 wrote: post #4

Talk about cruel punishments, locking up someone for two fucking robberies without any deaths for nearly a century is unreasonable, cruel and defies everything our civilization stands for. But hey, private prison operators need to make money and police/DA/any part of the justice system profits from being "tough on crime"... Thank God I'm German, even if you end up killing someone you'll at most get 15 years (okay, th…

He should have ran for the Canadian border the day he was released by mistake. (Probably wouldn't have helped since we extradict.) In Canada, you can kill someone and get only six years. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/killer-of-thai-welder... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/glowatski-sentenced-to-six-yea... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/northern-sask-man... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundlan…

I think it's worth noting that the United States has 3x as many murders per capita per year as compared to Canada. I'd hate to see American-style justice come to Canada, because it clearly doesn't keep the country safe.

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

#154

Post by jakejake » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 12:51 AM UTC

fixxer wrote: post #130

akira2501 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But, I'm not about to toss out the legal system because a criminal had a shitty time in court. Fuck this guy. I don't think anyone is suggesting anything other than reform of how we prosecute laws in this country, there is an obvious imbalance at play here and cases like this highlight the problem. Second.. sure, fuck that guy; but what about his family? His children? The community? Just because you put one person…

Oh, the children! What about the children? What does it matter? He robbed a bank! Someone died! He chose to break his contract with society. If I did that, I would expect zero considerations be made for my two kids. It is my responsibility to never put them in such a position.

Yea, but it's not really about pity for "the poor children." It's about making sure those children do not grow up to commit more crimes against you or me. It's selfish preservation on our part.

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

#155

Post by caf » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 12:51 AM UTC

speeder wrote: post #57

sickpig wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

It's not a matter of belief, it is a matter of demonstrable fact that some criminals are capable of completely reforming. To deny this is simply to deny reality.

(It is also clearly apparent that some criminals are unreformable - telling the difference a priori remains the hard part).

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

#156

Post by song » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 1:23 AM UTC

Zak wrote: post #124

song wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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? Probably not the guns. Germany has about a third the rate of gun ownership the US does and its rates of serious violent crimes, both with and without guns are much less than a third those of the US. All of Scandinavia, Switzer…

I didn't know gun ownership in Germany was that high, anecdotically, the only people I know with a gun over there keep it in the hunting/shooting club and not at home (It's more of a gun used for sport than for protection).

In term of cultural homogeneity, I don't actually think there's much less cultural homogeneity in Europe compared to US. We do have a lot of immigrants from different cultures actually...

I do agree in term of poverty factor, for a country that is seen externally as being rather powerful and rich, there's a lot of inequality in the US with a very sizable underclass and a seemingly low upward mobility. This is the one thing I rather appreciate in Europe, education is almost free and opens a lot of opportunities that I probably wouldn't have had if I were american (even my tuition when I was an exchange student in the US was free thanks to that).

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

#157

Post by seanflyon » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 1:32 AM UTC

fixxer wrote: post #131

seanflyon wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterfeiting seems to me to be on par with fraud and theft. Could you explain why you consider it to be on par with treason?

You debase a medium of exchange upon which our society is built.

So, extracting value that doesn't belong to you, causing financial harm, but not physical harm. Sounds a lot like theft. If you walk into a bank with phony checks and walk out with money that isn't yours, how is that worse than walking in with a gun or sneaking in at night?

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

#158

Post by refurb » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 1:42 AM UTC

caf wrote: post #150

refurb wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you. If said person had not decided to commit a crime, the person would likely not have died. It's not different than if I were speeding recklessly, zoomed by some old person who gets scared, runs off the road and dies. Maybe they shouldn't be charged with murder, but maybe manslaughter? Their actions directly contributed to the death of someone.

It's not different than if I were speeding recklessly, zoomed by some old person who gets scared, runs off the road and dies. It's vastly different. The old person in your example is not a willing part of your crime. Frankly the concept is absurd. Innocent bystanders and responding law enforcement that are killed in the commission of the crime can be said to have been murdered, but willing participants have died prim…

Unfortunately the law frowns upon the death of anyone, regardless if they willingly did something to encourage it.

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

#159

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 1:55 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #128

zaroth wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now when a cop shoots you while you are trying to rob a bank, it's suicide? This seems like a perfect example of felony murder.

I'm with you. If said person had not decided to commit a crime, the person would likely not have died. It's not different than if I were speeding recklessly, zoomed by some old person who gets scared, runs off the road and dies. Maybe they shouldn't be charged with murder, but maybe manslaughter? Their actions directly contributed to the death of someone.

[deleted]

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

#160

Post by caf » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 2:02 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #158

caf wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not different than if I were speeding recklessly, zoomed by some old person who gets scared, runs off the road and dies. It's vastly different. The old person in your example is not a willing part of your crime. Frankly the concept is absurd. Innocent bystanders and responding law enforcement that are killed in the commission of the crime can be said to have been murdered, but willing participants have died prim…

Unfortunately the law frowns upon the death of anyone, regardless if they willingly did something to encourage it.

That is not entirely true. People may put in "Do not resuscitate" elections, people can be left behind to die on mountain climbing expeditions, people can be beaten to death in a boxing ring.