Yeah, that totally makes sense.
Prisons should be abolished.
Real crime would be dealt with more severely than inhuman rat cages will ever do.
Did you know the USA is the freest country on earth and also has the highest number of nonviolent convicted felons?
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
[quote]orion wrote:
[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:
I thought the article was pretty funny: “All I did was commit a bunch of crimes, how did I get sentenced to a bunch of time in jail?”[/quote]
The ability to pile one charge upon the next is very, very troubling especially if combined with a system where most cases are plea bargained.
If you ever get into this systems crosshairs you will either have to agree to do some time or you will have to defend yourself against 15 charges for essentially the same alleged crime which will ruin you.
Whether in this case someone actually deserved what he got is not entirely besides the point, but incredibly short sighted.[/quote]
You can commit several crimes in the course of one criminal endeavor.
[/quote]
Yes, but what I mean is drug smuggling, using a phone or email to smuggle drugs, crossing a state line while smuggling drugs and being black while smuggling drugs.
If you want someone to go for jail for drug smuggling, fine, but the whole BS surrounding it is troubling.
[quote]Chushin wrote:
[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
If he was in Canada, he would be serving his time concurrently.[/quote]
In that case, it would only make sense to keep robbing until you got caught.[/quote]
Depends on what you get for that one robbery.
[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:
[quote]orion wrote:
[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:
I thought the article was pretty funny: “All I did was commit a bunch of crimes, how did I get sentenced to a bunch of time in jail?”[/quote]
The ability to pile one charge upon the next is very, very troubling especially if combined with a system where most cases are plea bargained.
If you ever get into this systems crosshairs you will either have to agree to do some time or you will have to defend yourself against 15 charges for essentially the same alleged crime which will ruin you.
Whether in this case someone actually deserved what he got is not entirely besides the point, but incredibly short sighted.[/quote]
The article said he committed a “string” of armed robberies. They should all count as a separate charge. This man knew that armed robbery is illegal and comes with jail time, he should have expected to do time for every crime he committed. Just because he managed to get away with a bunch of them before his first arrest doesn’t change anything.
[/quote]
No but the way the system is set up so that you can go for each crime separately gets a lot of people into jail who should not be there.
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Justice and mercy are opposites. Justice is getting what you deserve, mercy is not getting what you deserve.
If we are talking about justice, that’s one thing. You appear to be talking about mercy though.
I absolutely think this was justice. I can see the argument for mercy, but that would depend on many more facts than I currently have. Did he repent and want rehabilitation, or did he maintain that what he did wasn’t wrong and heâ??d do it again? Was he stealing for drug money or to pay his mom’s hospital bills?
In my opinion, you pull a gun on someone in the process of a crime like that, you lose all rights. In those moments, he fully deserved (justice) to be shot. THAT would truly be getting what he deserves.
It is good that you got a second chance and were able to turn your life around. But, if you were doing things like armed robbery, that chance is a gift, not something you earned or deserved.
There is definitely a place for grace and mercy in a legal system, but you should be clear that is not only not justice, it’s the opposite of justice.
Your list of what people who disagree with you are like, comes off, coincidentally, as self righteous and racist.
Edit: I would add in that he most certainly hurt people. You don’t get robbed at gun point and not get hurt. And that your list is contradictory. EMTs firefighters and cops are not upper class at all and generally have lots of time with “low-class” people.
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Common-sense morality 101…
Do harsh things & EXPECT harsh consequences!!!
If anyone was ever daft enough to SERIOUSLY threaten my life & I’d either: A) Not be happy until they were locked up for a VERY, VERY long time OR B) dead/paralysed.
The other guys should have done more time though…ridiculous disparity, no arguments there
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
What would your decision be if you were the judge?
[quote]TigerTime wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
What would your decision be if you were the judge?[/quote]
I DEFINITELY think he should go to prison. But not for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole. I feel that he should be sentanced along the lines of every one ELSE along with this series of crimes - say 9 - 22 years. He would get out before he was 30 and have a reasonable chance of starting over.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Justice and mercy are opposites. Justice is getting what you deserve, mercy is not getting what you deserve.
[/quote]What one “deserves” is subject to opinion. Civilization has come a long way from an eye for an eye kind of mentality. As for your defenition of justice and mercy, the “scales of justice” which is a fairly significant historical metaphore, imply they are two sides of the same coin. [quote]
If we are talking about justice, that’s one thing. You appear to be talking about mercy though.
[/quote]A wise man tempers his justice with mercy (according to MY interpretation of what is wise)[quote]
I absolutely think this was justice. I can see the argument for mercy, but that would depend on many more facts than I currently have. Did he repent and want rehabilitation, or did he maintain that what he did wasn’t wrong and heÃ?¢??d do it again? Was he stealing for drug money or to pay his mom’s hospital bills?
[/quote]Give me a break - he was 18 and a first time offender. No one was hurt. He didn’t maim or kill anyone. [quote]
In my opinion, you pull a gun on someone in the process of a crime like that, you lose all rights. In those moments, he fully deserved (justice) to be shot. THAT would truly be getting what he deserves.
[/quote]The operative words being, IN MY OPINION.[quote]
It is good that you got a second chance and were able to turn your life around. But, if you were doing things like armed robbery, that chance is a gift, not something you earned or deserved.
[/quote]It’s something I paid for. I applied my influence, my connections and my money and I got off with a sentance that was on the lighter side. What I deserved didn’t come into play. Nor did kindness or this “gift” you speak of. I operated 100% within the State of Maryland’s judicial/political system in the early 90’s. Money talked and bullshit ran the marathon. A “gift” is free - I paid A LOT for my sentance.[quote]
There is definitely a place for grace and mercy in a legal system, but you should be clear that is not only not justice, it’s the opposite of justice.
[/quote]There is not “justice” in our current legal system. It is all based on greed and corruption. I’ve been through it and I assure you this is true. [quote]
Your list of what people who disagree with you are like, comes off, coincidentally, as self righteous and racist.
[/quote]You’re calling ME self righteous? LOL And OF COURSE it’s racist: most people in prison are BLACK, in case you hadn’t noticed. [quote]
Edit: I would add in that he most certainly hurt people. You don’t get robbed at gun point and not get hurt. And that your list is contradictory. EMTs firefighters and cops are not upper class at all and generally have lots of time with “low-class” people.[/quote]
You’ve said that several times in this thread: that people are HURT by armed robbery (even if they are not touched). I’ll call bullshit on that. If THAT’s your defenition of “hurt” then people are “hurt” by scary movies, going out for a night on the town, driving down the street, or any number of situations that they felt to be “at risk” and even perhaps had their life in another person’s hands - but they WERE NOT HURT.
As for why I lumped cops, and other first responders in with rich people is obvious: they deal EXCLUSIVELY with the negative elements of society and therefore become jaded. What they experience is NOT average, it’s above average and skews their thinking.
[quote]GorillaMon wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Common-sense morality 101…
Do harsh things & EXPECT harsh consequences!!!
If anyone was ever daft enough to SERIOUSLY threaten my life & I’d either: A) Not be happy until they were locked up for a VERY, VERY long time OR B) dead/paralysed.
[/quote]
Harsh is relative: I know people convicted of MURDER who got less time than this kid. Again, he DID commit a felony and deserves prison. He DID NOT hurt anyone.
I don’t get why you would allow that sort of sentencing instead of sentencing someone to death.
It’s just about the same thing.
If there is a parole date in sight, that’s something to strive for. Same with good behavior.
Most people that I met in prison had a fucked up perspective wrt life because they’ve had such limited experiences in theirs. For me, one of the biggest factors in “fixing” my fucked up life, was being removed from the environment and people that I had immersed and surrounded myself with.
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
[quote]GorillaMon wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Common-sense morality 101…
Do harsh things & EXPECT harsh consequences!!!
If anyone was ever daft enough to SERIOUSLY threaten my life & I’d either: A) Not be happy until they were locked up for a VERY, VERY long time OR B) dead/paralysed.
[/quote]
Harsh is relative: I know people convicted of MURDER who got less time than this kid. Again, he DID commit a felony and deserves prison. He DID NOT hurt anyone.[/quote]
The fact that a lot of murderers get namby-pamby setences is besides the point.
STACKS of people live through extremely negative life situations & don’t do anything even remotely close to what this guy did. If anything, he should be thinking himself extremely lucky he didn’t get himself shot in the process of committing such atrocious crimes.
[quote]GorillaMon wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
[quote]GorillaMon wrote:
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
Common-sense morality 101…
Do harsh things & EXPECT harsh consequences!!!
If anyone was ever daft enough to SERIOUSLY threaten my life & I’d either: A) Not be happy until they were locked up for a VERY, VERY long time OR B) dead/paralysed.
[/quote]
Harsh is relative: I know people convicted of MURDER who got less time than this kid. Again, he DID commit a felony and deserves prison. He DID NOT hurt anyone.[/quote]
The fact that a lot of murderers get namby-pamby setences is besides the point.
STACKS of people live through extremely negative life situations & don’t do anything even remotely close to what this guy did. If anything, he should be thinking himself extremely lucky he didn’t get himself shot in the process of committing such atrocious crimes. [/quote]
Since when was less than 162 years namby pamby? And you can’t possibly generalize EVERY “extremely negative life situation” and corellate them all and predict who will commit crime and who wont. And how is it “lucky” that he didn’t get shot? He most likely chose establishments without guns. That’s not “luck” it’s a choice.
So are you going to run off to fantasy land and say, “well if I were there and if I had my handgun I would have SHOT the sunufabitch”. Well you were NOT there and he didn’t rob YOU. It’s easy to play the woulda, shoulda, coulda game…
Ok then AC: Let me put it like this: What’s ultimately more important?
Giving a SERIAL criminal another crack of the whip (despite the fact most violent criminals re-offend) OR the protection of the public?
Why should the MAJORITY suffer because of the actions of such a despicable few?
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
SHAME on all of you who think this is “justice”. He was 18 at the time of his crimes, did not hurt anyone in the commission of his crimes, was not the ring-leader in the string of robberies, the other participants got 9 - 22 years but he got 162 years? On his first offence? Wasn’t offered a plea bargain? That’s bullshit.
What some of you forget is that HUMANS have the capacity to EVOLVE. I am living proof of it. You see, this guy is ME 20 years ago. I committed a string of armed robberies from age 16 - 18. I got busted on one and was snitched out on the others. I was sentanced to TEN years and served FOUR years. It was my first offence as an adult (I had juvenile convictions). I did my time and learned my lesson and STILL had enough time to get myself on track and become successful in several careers. I have fathered two amazing chldren and I have become a POSITIVE member of my community and have helped other young men avoid making the same mistakes that I did.
If you look at my balance sheet, I’ve paid my debt to society MANY times over. WHY? Because I was given the opportunity to change, not locked in a hole for the rest of my life. That isn’t JUSTICE.
If you take the time to look a few layers deeper into ANY young criminal, myself included, and you’ll find a childhood that would chill you to the bone. These young men didn’t have a chance given their experiences growing up. They grew up only trying to SURVIVE, Yet you see fit to throw them away and discard them for LIFE as you sit comfortably in your home, never having even GLIMPSED their shoes, never mind walking a few steps in them. It’s been my overwhelming experience that people who hold the “lock 'em up and throw away the key” attitude are:
-white
-upper class (or cops, emt, firefighters)
-born with a silver spoon
-NEVER spent time anywhere NEAR an inner city environment
-NEVER spent time with ANY ‘low-class’ people
-View the world as black and white
-Are generally self-righteous pricks
-Tend to be racist or closet racist
Shame on all of you who think that it’s a good thing to throw this young man’s life away.[/quote]
You can throw up all the sob stories about a hard life you want, but it will never change the fact that this man made the choice to be a criminal and now he is paying the price as well as serving as an example to others. And before you bring up the “silver spoon” thing, Yes I am a member of the upper class now, but I grew up in a poor family in the Soviet Union, we can compare stories if you like, but I would rather not.
In the Soviet Union, we had three main types of criminals: people with mental disorders who really did not know any better, members of the Communist Party who were powerful enough to not get arrested, and political dissidents. It was almost unheard of to see people robbing each other even though we were all starving and dirty and cold. Do you know why?
Because the punishment for almost any crime was hard labor, and survival rates in the labor camps were not good and the ones who did make it back were very ill and usually maimed in some way. It didn’t matter if you killed a dozen men or stole a loaf of bread or were a political dissident, you were sentenced to several years in the “gulag.”
The labor camps had even less food then us poor people, and not too many people were going to risk being starved or worked to death or crippled. In the US you can at least count on semi adequate food and a decent chance of being alive and not crippled after coming out of prison and conditions like in the gulag would be considered “cruel and unusual” here so now the only thing to do is to make the sentences really long.
If you knew that holding up a 7-11 meant the rest of your life in prison, how many people do you think would make the choice to become a criminal? Some would, yes, but not nearly as many.
[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
I don’t get why you would allow that sort of sentencing instead of sentencing someone to death.
It’s just about the same thing.
If there is a parole date in sight, that’s something to strive for. Same with good behavior.
Most people that I met in prison had a fucked up perspective wrt life because they’ve had such limited experiences in theirs. For me, one of the biggest factors in “fixing” my fucked up life, was being removed from the environment and people that I had immersed and surrounded myself with.[/quote]
Hmm, now there’s an interesting perspective. This is essentially the death sentence, only instead of lethal injection his imposed method of euthanasia is extended confinement. To me, this is more cruel than simply injecting him.
So, I would like to know, if the judge had sentenced him to die quickly at the point of a needle rather than sentencing him to die slowly at the hands of his own mortality, would those of you whom agree with his punishment still agree?