What I Learned from Executing Two Men

Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by fsloth on Monday September 19, 2016 @09:25AM (#12531229)

I was not saying that the justice system should avoid pain to the guilty but rather work on a principle of least harm. If a person has slain several people, and it is likely he will do so again, society might be better off with the person locked away. A life imprisonment can be, if not canceled, then terminated and amended financially.

It of course depends on the nature of the prison. I would claim it could be just like a regular apartment - except you can't leave. There is no reason for it to be doomy , gloomy and grimy if the raison detre is to protect the society from the person locked away.

I think norway's treatment of prisoners is great example of how to do this as sensibly as possible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imprisonment_in_Norway

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by kahrkunne on Monday September 19, 2016 @11:06AM (#12531966)

One of the major purposes of prisons is deterrence, and for that prisons need to be awful.

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by yusee on Monday September 19, 2016 @11:38AM (#12532227)

In theory, harsh prison conditions deter would-be criminals.

Do you have any evidence that reality conforms to this theory?

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by tmptmp on Monday September 19, 2016 @12:42PM (#12532748)

>>Do you have any evidence that reality conforms to this theory?

Do you have any evidence that reality doesn't conform to this theory?

Not a counter-question just for the sake of counter-questioning; I am sincerely interested in knowing.

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by orkoden on Monday September 19, 2016 @01:13PM (#12532963)

The US has harsh sentences and high crime.

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by 67726e on Monday September 19, 2016 @02:14PM (#12533425)

Is it possible we would have higher crime with lighter sentences?

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by tmptmp on Tuesday September 20, 2016 @08:14AM (#12538875)

This in itself doesn't prove anything. Compared to what it's harsh and high? e.g. China may have harsher sentences and lower crime.

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Re:What I Learned from Executing Two Men by fsloth on Monday September 19, 2016 @03:42PM (#12534114)

While longer prison sentences do deter crime up to a point ( http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2016/03/criminal...) I've not seen any data that would grade effectiveness of prisons based on their awfullness. No matter how "cushy" the prison environment is, it's still a prison. Awful prisons only dehumanize convicts and guards alike for no purpose.

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