Text 16990, 102 rader
Skriven 2006-01-04 15:16:56 av Alan Hess
     Kommentar till en text av TIM RICHARDSON
Ärende: Bootlicker special
==========================
Whilst masticating on <Jan 03 06>, TIM RICHARDSON (1:123/140)
wrote to ALAN HESS:

TR> I am not what you'd call *pro-death penalty*, so much as I am of 
TR> the opinion that, until something better comes along, the death 
TR> penalty will do.

Personally, I find life in prison to be a worse punishment than death, but, as
long as we have the death penalty, it should be used on people who are
undoubtedly guilty.

TR> I would go to bat for a societal doctrine that included `equality 
TR> for all', and the elimination of povery altogether.

I don't know if poverty can ever be totally eliminated.  Greatly reduced,
probably.

TR> We aren't talking about a complete ban on firearms, etc; all the 
TR> tired old things that have mostly been shown not to work, in fact 
TR> only make the problems worse.

TR> What we need is a society where `all boats float at a decent 
TR> level of life'.

TR> Where nobody has to live in public housing, or rent housing. But 
TR> can own their own house and property.

TR> And not some `government give-away' either. People who want to 
TR> `have' should be expected to work and be self-supporting, their 
TR> children expected to attend school regularly, pay attention to the 
TR> teachers, and strive to excell.

This could also happen with government giveaways, if the giveaways come with
strings attached (like those you mention above.)  There should also be limits
on how many children government will pay to support while you're on welfare
(personally, zero sounds like a good number, but certainly no more than two. 
Obviously, a family that already has children and then winds up on welfare due
to circumstances would be treated differently than someone on welfare who then
has children while receiving assistance.)

TR> The highest goals someone should have are the ones they set for 
TR> themselves. That isn't always the case, but it starts in the home, 
TR> with two functional parents, good parental examples, good role models.

It definitely starts at home.  Two parents are best, but one good one can also
do the job.

TR> Those who choose to be lay-abouts, taking their existence from 
TR> government handouts and not working for their own keep, should be 
TR> made to do community service work for their money and food.

Makes sense to me.

TR> Those who take up a firearm and try to rob for their gain, should 
TR> be able to know that, at any given time they are among citizens 
TR> who are carrying guns themselves, and they are quite liable to be 
TR> shot for their trouble. Maybe even killed.

TR> New, modern prisons should be of the type used to handle wild 
TR> animals, like large, dangerous cats. Doors open and close, lights 
TR> come on or go off, each animal is housed in their individual 
TR> `cage'. The cells should be ten or twelve feet square, to allow 
TR> moving around room...the beds comfortable....TV screens behind 
TR> unbreakable transparent plastic windows, etc. The closest the 
TR> staff ever actually come to an inmate is a TV monitor or `gunwalk' 
TR> in front of the individual cellblock tiers. The only physical 
TR> contact staff have with an inmate is at the recieving end when 
TR> they are first strip searched, for medical purposes, and paroled.

TR> Other than that, an inmate comes into physical contact with 
TR> nobody, their entire sentence. Inmates do not co-mingle, do not 
TR> use gym or weightlifting equipment, play no sports, are in fact, 
TR> never out of their cells except for medical emergencies. They eat, 
TR> sleep, shower, read, write, watch TV, exercise by walking up and 
TR> down the ten or twelve foot cell, or doing pushups, etc.

TR> Meals are served by a staff of trustees, three times a day, by 
TR> placing a tray of food on the floor in front of the cell door and 
TR> sliding it under to the inmate. The inmate eats, and when 
TR> finished, pushes the tray back out the same way.

TR> I think that after about the first ten or twenty years of such a 
TR> system, the idea of the life behind bars would have been brought 
TR> to a focus where it began to have a strong impact on crime.

I've got no problem with your prison system for violent criminals.  However,
does being locked up in a cell 24/7 qualify as "cruel and unusual punishment?"
Do you propose the same system for nonviolent offenders?

AH>>Karla Faye Tucker was
AH>>one example, again one who wound up executed (by our current 
AH>>President when he was governor of Texas.)

TR> In the end, she herself seemed to agree with the fairness of her sentence.

Even so, she did have people and groups on the right asking for clemency for
her, just as Williams had from the left.  And the rationale in both cases was
that the condemned person had changed in prison and was now a positive member
of society.  That doesn't bring any victims back to life.  *adh*

--- Msged/2 6.0.1
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