Re: News: Biologist murdered by man of "good character"

On 18 Dic, 03:18, Free Lunch <lu...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:00:38 -0800 (PST), in talk.origins
chris thompson <chris.linthomp...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<4c7b98b3-b952-4b94-8635-5c414465c...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:



On Dec 17, 7:45 pm, Vend <ven...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 17 Dic, 23:16, Mark Isaak <eci...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:00:04 -0800, Vend wrote:
On 16 Dic, 23:01, Mark Isaak <eci...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:48:38 +0000, nmp wrote:
Vend wrote:
[...]
I think that nobody here is advocating for capital punishment or
torture, but criminal sentences must necessarly cause some degree of
suffering, otherwise there is no disincentive to commit crimes.

No. Biggest misunderstanding of all times re. criminal justice. Longer
prison terms DO NOT deter criminals. And that's mostly because they
don't think they are going to be caught, or because they just don't
think about what they are doing when committing a crime period.

Furthermore, longer prison sentences mean more time with other
criminals learning how to be a criminal. More furthermore, harsh
sentences and other injustices can lead the criminal to think, not
"this is my fault," but "my suffering is the fault of society," and
guess who they act out against then. I can't speak for the rest of
the world, but as they're implemented in the US, prisons cause crime.

I think this is an exageration. Do you think that the US would be a
safer place to live if all the prison gates were opened?

No. That "as implemented" qualifier is important. Today, the official
purpose of prisons is solely punishment, without any rehabilitation.
Politicians know nothing about crime reduction, and they pander to an
electorate which knows less, so they run on the "(appear to be) tough on
crime" platform even when it makes crime worse. And one of the largest
lobbying groups in California is the prison industry, so there is big
money being spent to get as many people in prison as possible, despite
the fact that overcrowding is already a huge problem. (They want more
prisons to be built; it is apparently more important to send our
citizens to prison than to school.)

Are prisons in California run by private companies?

One of the utter travesties of the Republican administrations we've
had recently is that yes, prisons in quite a few states are run under
contract to private companies.

I feel compulsions to rage and vomit simultaneously.

Yes. Privatizing prisons is wrong, morally, ethically, politically. It's
just another way to steal money from the government and the rights from
citizens.

Until such time as this abomination is driven from our land, every
single person involved in running private prisons should be criminally
liable for every crime committed against any prisoner. If the CEO and
members of the board know that they will go to prison themselves if a
guard so much as busts the nose of a prisoner, they will be far less
willing to try to grab money from government by running prisons.
Outsourcing prisons is truly an immoral act. It's almost as bad as
hiring Blackwater and KBR to murder and rape in Iraq.

What's next?
Private owned police anc courts?

.

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