"When I was sure, I would find a quiet way, and I would kill him."
-The Lovely Bones
In a perfect world, it would be easy to lay down punishments for various crimes, but it inevitably becomes very complicated in this imperfect world of ours. I'll try anyway.
Murder, rape -
Perfect world: We are always able to prove guilt beyond any doubt. There is a high-resolution video of the crime where the culprit is holding up his driver's license and humming a ditty that includes his name and SS#. DNA evidence corroborates and we have a confession that we know was not extracted under duress and are absolutely sure that the criminal was mentally sound. Criminal is either executed immediately or, at the request of the victim, tortured to death. If he was mentally unsound for reasons beyond his control, rehabilitate and monitor.
Our world: We'll almost never have no doubt of a person's guilt. Thus, life without the possibility of parole keeps the alleged criminal away from society while giving him/her the chance to be exonerated. An unjust and expensive system.
Other serious crimes -
Perfect world: Rehabilitation works. The child molester sees the light and goes on to become a wonderful man. Society gains a productive individual. The prisons are emptied.
Our world: Recidivism rates make rehab of criminals a joke. It is abhorrent to have your child molested by someone who was sent to prison... for molesting children. If you were innocent or made a youthful mistake and were sentenced to hard time, you're coming out bitter, unable to relate to society, and hardwired into dysfunctional behavior.
Minor crimes-
Perfect world: You are cited by a police officer and human decency prevents you from ever repeating the crime.
Our world: Not getting pwned for minor crimes leads you to commit other minor crimes. All of a sudden you're before a judge and your previous offenses require a minimum prison sentence. You don't complete high school and spend your formative years in prison. You're then released, given a yellow passport, and expected to merge seamlessly back into society. Doesn't work.
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You picked apart my crimes...comparing prostitution and B&E for example.. but you didnt list very many of your own. How do you define "Minor" and serious crimes? Where would prostitution and B&E fit in your scale then? Much harder than it looked huh?
ReplyDeleteI did fail to mention how the criminally insane fit in my system - post is too long as is- so its good that you covered that because I agree.
In my perfect world prostitution is not a crime and B&E is major because there is a very real chance that life and limb will be threatened. In my imperfect real world, it still shouldn't be a crime and B&E should still be a felony. The second you break into someone's house you're putting yourself in a situation where you or the occupant may have to kill or be killed. That willingness is very criminal imo.
ReplyDeleteSouthern, I'll apologize for lambasting you for your punitive justice system then realizing that my ideal system of justice would be harsh and unforgiving. In my world, people wouldn't commit rape because they would have heard whispered stories of the torment that other rapists endured before their own deaths.
ReplyDeleteI would hope that mine would scare the pants off of anyone...even the occasional pot smoker. We should all be good little boys and girls and the thought of 10 years for lighting a joint might do one of many things: a) Scare people from doing said crime b) make people flee, ridding those few remaining of overcrowding, etc c) get me killed or force me into hiding in Canada (Montreal, anyone?) due to death threats. None of those sound too bad to me, well fleeing sounds good- dying not so much.
ReplyDeletei'm sorry for commenting here because i was checking you out and somewhere in your profile you asked for one's fathers middle name, and i love my fathers middle name because of its humiliating tale.
ReplyDeletefind me and i'll tell you :)