-Caveat Lector- Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com http://www.ioa.com/~davehart Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 From: bernieX <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ====================================================== distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful ====================================================== Kip Kinkle's sentence of a lifetime of torture, was not appropriate, not justice, will not do anyone any good; it is cruel, unjust, wrong. After the sentencing of kip, the thurston victims lined up in front of the cameras at a press conference. They sang a prepared song, cheerfully serenading kip: [because of kip's supposed delusion that the disney company was trying to take over the world. ha, ridiculous that a mega-metastasizing-media-corporation would be trying to monopolize the channels of communication... uhm...hmm...well, different subject anyway] "Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company M - I - C see you real soon K - E - Y why, because you're going to jail" That is very scary. It is a horror that does far more harm than kip kinkle ever could. It reinforces the community's mob tendencies to punish vengefully; it is part of a mass hysteria that makes torture and injustice seem like the right thing to do, to reward revenge as if it were a good deed. It teaches to our children a social violence that makes the genesis of more kip kinkles all the more likely. It is like stoning an adulterer, or throwing a rapist into a den of lions. It is brutal savagery attempting to pass as justice, and it is not. To make this into something that can correct a problem, or salve a grief, or heal the damage, or resolve the nightmare, or be the just consequence to a crime -- to make this act of inhumane cruel retribution into some sort of warm and fuzzy lesson for our families and children, is a terrifyingly dangerous social contortion. And it is exactly the sort of thing that can give budding violent sociopaths the twisted moral ground on which to stand, from which to kill and destroy as if it was the right thing to do. It is not justice to react to a criminal act by committing that same criminal act upon the criminal. An eye for an eye is not justice; it is two crimes. Here is how to react to the commission of a shockingly cruel crime -- commit a shockingly merciful consequence. And realize that there was a series of very identifiable events in the lives of the teen killers that can serve to prevent a reoccurence, both in those individuals and in future possible teen killers. There should definitely be a chance of kip getting out of prison in a few years, and definitely before he ever gets to OSP. But we all know that the past thirty years has seen the abandonment of prevention strategies, as seen in the gutting of state mental health funding in just one example, and a hyper-expansive growth in the punishment industry. It is out of whack. It is a twisted crusade, in its quest to make the world a safer place, that embraces hysteria and makes the world a more dangerous place . _WE_ create the monsters that we fear. A young university student in washington takes part in a concerted mob action of riot over several hours, which is mostly drunken revelry for no purpose other than vandalism, including pushing burning dumpsters at a line of police. He gets some kind of probation, basically a merciful acknowledgment of the stupid acts of a first time offender. -but- A young rootless activist in eugene takes part in a chaotic demonstration, in which most just want to make noise about the cause, but some jerks think smashing windows are a political message. The cops are far more aggressive and violent than even the stupid provocateurs, and in a melee in which it is the cops that are charging demonstrators, the young man throws a rock in an ineffective panic, which gives a glancing blow to a cop. The young man is given a ridiculously cruel prison sentence of seven years. -OR- A professional football player gets drunk, runs a red light, and kills a woman. He gets probation and some minor jail time, and is suspended for eight games. He will play next week. -but- A retired man with a debilitating injury, or a bestselling author with cancer, gets caught smoking or growing a little marijuana. They get sent to prison for ten years, or even better, they just have everything they have-- home, land and savings -- just taken away, no conviction necessary. Be careful about the joy you take while chopping someone's head off. =================================== living within the vision within the power, beyond belief we see that hate destroys the soul of anyone who tries to teach it =================================== Something just occurs to me -- what the hell were kip's lawyers thinking? This seems incompetent to make a deal for something like this. The sentence that was handed down is equivalent to the absolute worst case scenario of going to trial and having everything go against kip. Further, this does not arrange for commitment to the state mental health system, even though the head of the State of Oregon psychiatric security review board recommended that in a conversation with the district attorney's office as the best course of action for both the convict and the community. Well, we know the DA's office has no conscience. Remember harcleroad's quote in reaction to a question about the cruel sentencing of thaxton: "No big deal. We send people to prison every week." I better post this now and continue ranting in a dark room by myself for the rest of the night. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
