2009/8/26 Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> > I vote to let my father or son die in prison. It's noteworthy, however, to > add that when I had my own youthful run ins with the law, my father made > sure I did not get to take advantage of an early release option well within > his ability.
I know Lee has repeatedly brought up the family aspect of this, but, whilst it is a small factor, I believe the mercy aspect in criminal justice is primarily focused on the individual. I'm honestly quite shocked by some people's crude, black and white, interpretation of justice. (Some people's attitudes are about what I'd expect.) The release of a man to die is a demonstration of a nation's supreme humanity. As soon as you de-humanise the culprit -- which is the dangerous the step people are taking -- your own humanity is left highly questionable. I think people need to proceed more cautiously: search their own mind and decide whether they understand, intellectually and emotionally, the difference between justice and revenge. There's abundant evidence in this thread that people's notions of justice are -- and I'm being as polite as I can muster -- under-developed. > He didn't think of it as revenge, he called it "dealing with the > consequences of my actions". Is that really a culturally different > perspective? Learning the lessons of youth over misdemeanours is some steps removed from a life-sentence. I assume you weren't terminally ill at the time, either? I know this is a serious discussion, but I can only think about the scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail where the peasants are trying to get the witch burnt. :) Ian --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
