Re:Abolish the Cash Bail System
by vidarh on Monday October 12, 2020 @09:22AM
(#24754087)
The entire US justice system is a dystopia to me.
As someone who grew up in Norway, if I somehow found myself on a US jury I'd be had pressed to be able to morally justify voting "guilty" even if the accused stood up in court and committed the crime in front of me, because of the inhumane prison system and length of sentences.
It's a system that is fundamentally about satisfying a desire for vengeance at all cost, not about making society better.
[I'll add to this that Norway had a pretty brutal prison system too, until a prison reform movement started gaining traction in the 60's. The interesting part is that as it turns out, treating people like humans instead of abusing them tends to reduce re-offending]
As someone who grew up in Norway, if I somehow found myself on a US jury I'd be had pressed to be able to morally justify voting "guilty" even if the accused stood up in court and committed the crime in front of me, because of the inhumane prison system and length of sentences.
It's a system that is fundamentally about satisfying a desire for vengeance at all cost, not about making society better.
[I'll add to this that Norway had a pretty brutal prison system too, until a prison reform movement started gaining traction in the 60's. The interesting part is that as it turns out, treating people like humans instead of abusing them tends to reduce re-offending]