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After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

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Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#31

Post by jeffdavis »

SeoxyS wrote: post #27
asveikau wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what the right punishment is for that, but the original sentence of 45 years seems too steep. As does 25.

I agree, but that also depends on the offender. In a way, you could make an argument that prison should not have timed sentences, but rather that it should be "you stay until it is deemed that you will not offend again, and that you can be a productive member of society." After all the word "corrections" implies that something should be corrected, not that somebody should be punished.

It's partially deterrent and partially corrections.

If it were only for corrections, then it would cause all kinds of problems. The most obvious one is that you get one "free crime" to commit.

There's also a fairness (and rule-of-law) argument: if two people steal $100 each, why would one person be let out earlier?

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#32

Post by dools »

asveikau wrote: post #17
zalew wrote: post #2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_G._Santos While in prison, he divorced, got married, received a college degree from Mercer University in 1992, a master's degree from Hofstra University in 1995, began a doctorate, and developed programs and resources for inmates and their families. well, you can say he got a lot of time for that in there, but still, wow.

The whole time reading this article, I thought, sounds good, but having spent 25 years in jail he must have done something pretty bad. Then I read that Wikipedia article and it turns out he was caught selling cocaine in his 20s... Man, say whatever you want for drugs being bad, but that's kind of a BS reason to rob someone of their youth like that. For 25 years I thought maybe he'd killed a guy.

If you're interested in drug policy you might like a recently released documentary called "The House I Live In": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#33

Post by asveikau »

atechnerd wrote: post #30
asveikau wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what the right punishment is for that, but the original sentence of 45 years seems too steep. As does 25.

Cocaine use was a major problem in the 80's, which also gave rise to the crack epidemic which was even worse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_epidemic Santos was considered a "King Pin" under the law, which essentially meant that he had several people working under him and was also dealing with very large financial transactions (this by his own admission in the UC Berkeley video). By today's standards the punishme…

So patronizing.

I was born in DC; I don't need the Wikipedia article on the crack epidemic.

You really think locking people up is what solved that problem?

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#34

Post by lostlogin »

atechnerd wrote: post #30
asveikau wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what the right punishment is for that, but the original sentence of 45 years seems too steep. As does 25.

Cocaine use was a major problem in the 80's, which also gave rise to the crack epidemic which was even worse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_epidemic Santos was considered a "King Pin" under the law, which essentially meant that he had several people working under him and was also dealing with very large financial transactions (this by his own admission in the UC Berkeley video). By today's standards the punishme…

Probably appropriate? Is there a measure that can be used to show this? You get less time for murder where I live.

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#35

Post by KaoruAoiShiho »

Houshalter wrote: post #5
colmvp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While in prison, he divorced, got married... Wow, even prisoners get more life progress than I do lol

In all seriousness how does one date in prison?

When the 20th reunion of Shorecrest High School, class of 1982, rolled around, Santos was in a low-security institution at Fort Dix, N.J., and unable to attend. But Carole Goodwin, who organized the event and had known him since fifth grade, tracked him down through his website.

Divorced, living with two kids in Lake Oswego, Ore., she had been aware of his criminal past but that didn't stop her. "I was drawn to him from the second I saw his picture," she says.

As he puts it, "She went to my website and wrote me a letter. That led to a correspondence and then a romance, and then we got married in a prison visiting room in 2003, at Fort Dix. I still had 11 years to go."

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#36

Post by WalterBright »

aashaykumar92 wrote: post #7

The story is amazing. But what continuously went through my head was how different our world will be 25 years from now. It'll be 2038...what will technology be like? If you take a second to realize what it was 25 years ago, what it is now, and then ask yourself what it WILL be in 25 years...well shit, I was left speechless.

My great-aunt remembers the time the first car arrived in her village in the 1800s. She lived to fly across the Atlantic in a jetliner, and see the moon landings.

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#37

Post by [deleted] »

jeffdavis wrote: post #31
SeoxyS wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but that also depends on the offender. In a way, you could make an argument that prison should not have timed sentences, but rather that it should be "you stay until it is deemed that you will not offend again, and that you can be a productive member of society." After all the word "corrections" implies that something should be corrected, not that somebody should be punished.

It's partially deterrent and partially corrections. If it were only for corrections, then it would cause all kinds of problems. The most obvious one is that you get one "free crime" to commit. There's also a fairness (and rule-of-law) argument: if two people steal $100 each, why would one person be let out earlier?

[deleted]

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#38

Post by OGinparadise »

asveikau wrote: post #33
atechnerd wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cocaine use was a major problem in the 80's, which also gave rise to the crack epidemic which was even worse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_epidemic Santos was considered a "King Pin" under the law, which essentially meant that he had several people working under him and was also dealing with very large financial transactions (this by his own admission in the UC Berkeley video). By today's standards the punishme…

So patronizing. I was born in DC; I don't need the Wikipedia article on the crack epidemic. You really think locking people up is what solved that problem?

So patronizing. I was born in DC; I don't need the Wikipedia article on the crack epidemic.

Put that on your profile so next time this topic come up we know. Seriously. I didn't know that about you and time and time again posters post something from the past to give context.

Context might explain why the "tough on crime" politicians pushed for mandatory sentences even for minor amounts.

Re: After 25 years in jail, the Internet blew my mind

#40

Post by vecinu »

atechnerd wrote: post #28
mardix wrote: post #6

This article has been posted so many times now... c'mon people...

I thought I had seen it on HN as well, but I just searched around and realized it was a Quora post from 3 months ago that I was thinking of by the same guy. Apparently Santos went from knowing zero about technology to being a viral marketing master.

It's not surprising with his unique story...sensationalism sells, especially when it's true.
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