The United States' Justice System, In a nutshell. Options

[*CrackedRearView*]

Corrupt. Ignorant. Unteachable. Folly. Stupidity.

Every one of these words would adequately describe the idiocy that is the parole system. Let me tell you a little story...

In 1966 a man named Kenneth Allen McDuff killed three teenagers and went to jail for life on the condition that he would "never have the chance for parole".

Fair enough? I'd say so.

But, in 1991 he was paroled (?) and killed five more women.

The same is the case for many other horrible killers...

What has bred such stupidity in an institute of the United States that was designed to curtail such stupid acts?

I guess the debatable question should be: 'Why is there such a problem in the Justice System, and what can be done to curb it'?

[sadolakced acid]

the problem is people who shouldn't become judges.

a President, or a govenor gets elected and rewards his or her donators. with a judicial appointment, mayhaps?

judges should be impartial, and should be blind to all but the crime.

how is 'the ten commandments' judge impartial?

how would a 'women's rights activist' judge be impartial?

the problem lies in how judges are selected. Judges are appointed. which means to fix the judicial system, judges need to be found in a different manner.

voting= no. we don't need politicians as judges.
appointment= no.

so what is the solution?

the solution is to have people who would be good judges nominated. these people would not be allowed to campaign. they would be interviewed (by say a senatorial committee) and then the committee would pick 3.

these 3 would be picked to counteract each other's view. they would be a judicial unit, and they would always be on the same cases.

[*CrackedRearView*]

And in James Moore's case, when a sentencing law passed by the New York state legislature in 1982 made him eligible for parole just 20 years after raping, torturing, and killing a 14-year old girl?

How can you impartially elect hundreds of members to a state legislature? Your suggestion would change the dynamic of United States political campaigning, a.k.a, it would eliminate techniques for candidates to attempt to sway voters with.

I can understand this logic with appointing judges, but legislatures hold higher precedence.

[sadolakced acid]

well, there is no real solution; becuase in the end the decision comes down to a human.

just have to hope that the legislature isn't entirely corrupt.

better to have many fools in charge than one...

[DizBukHahNi]

We should have the period in between conviction and execution drastically shorten to weeks or months instead of years and decades. I have to say that the attitude towards crime is pretty soft, we should make execution an opion for lesser crimes, and the end punishment for the 3 strikes is life in prison. The age for conviction for juveniles shuld be lowered to something like 12 or 13 instead of 18. Given these measures, I think will deter crime.

[heyyfrankie]

i agree. i don't know what is wrong with the justice system. they tell people one thing and then do another, totally different thing!

i honestly don't know how to change it or how anyone can do anything about it. =/

[Aesirus]

The problem is the punishment structure of our court system.

The only developed country that has kept a consistently low crime rate has been that of Japan. Their justice system has focused on a unique combination of "tough love" and rehabilitation.

They use a system where the criminal has to pay restitution to the victim. A thief might be punished, for example, by paying back the family what he stole, and then some. This method shows people that they have actually caused harms in society. A lot of hardened criminals may be sadists, but most are not.

In the United States, the four lowest crime rates are in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alaska. Of those states, two (Vermont and Alaska) allow concelaed carry of handguns with no permit, and the other two issue concealed carry permits on a "shall-issue" basis. In addition, three (Vermont, NH, and Maine) allow prisoners to vote while in jail. This helps integrate them into society rather than alienating them further. And it also provides a check, since if the number of people in jail was so big that they became a viable political constitutency, then that would be a problem in the system itself.

[*CrackedRearView*]

The problem is the punishment structure of our court system.

The only developed country that has kept a consistently low crime rate has been that of Japan. Their justice system has focused on a unique combination of "tough love" and rehabilitation.

They use a system where the criminal has to pay restitution to the victim. A thief might be punished, for example, by paying back the family what he stole, and then some. This method shows people that they have actually caused harms in society. A lot of hardened criminals may be sadists, but most are not.

In the United States, the four lowest crime rates are in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alaska. Of those states, two (Vermont and Alaska) allow concelaed carry of handguns with no permit, and the other two issue concealed carry permits on a "shall-issue" basis. In addition, three (Vermont, NH, and Maine) allow prisoners to vote while in jail. This helps integrate them into society rather than alienating them further. And it also provides a check, since if the number of people in jail was so big that they became a viable political constitutency, then that would be a problem in the system itself.

They use a system where the criminal has to pay restitution to the victim. A thief might be punished, for example, by paying back the family what he stole, and then some. This method shows people that they have actually caused harms in society. A lot of hardened criminals may be sadists, but most are not.

You run into problems when the killer is a homeless man who stabbed a storekeeper trying to prevent him from taking a bag of Cheez-Its (Kareem Allen).

In the United States, the four lowest crime rates are in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alaska. Of those states, two (Vermont and Alaska) allow concelaed carry of handguns with no permit, and the other two issue concealed carry permits on a "shall-issue" basis. In addition, three (Vermont, NH, and Maine) allow prisoners to vote while in jail. This helps integrate them into society rather than alienating them further. And it also provides a check, since if the number of people in jail was so big that they became a viable political constitutency, then that would be a problem in the system itself.

Two points:

1) Two years ago in Psychology AP I learned about something called an illusory correlation. Now, the idea behind this is that two things, whether positively or negatively correlated, can quite possibly be hardly related.

Problem with your correlation is that Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alaska are four of the least populous states, ergo, they have substantially less crime. But, according to the U.S. Justice Dept., crime rates in Minnesota and Washington are very similar to that of those four states, and conceal-and-carry laws are a non-issue there.

[racoons > you]

every human will have a different set of morals, no one can be entirely free of prejudices which would affect a decision,

but, as sadolekced sain there is noway the system can ever be perfect, therefo mistakes will always be made

Problem with your correlation is that Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Alaska are four of the least populous states, ergo, they have substantially less crime. But, according to the U.S. Justice Dept., crime rates in Minnesota and Washington are very similar to that of those four states, and conceal-and-carry laws are a non-issue there.

lower populations would not necessarily affect crime rates which are often available in aper hundren thousand statistic

[*CrackedRearView*]

every human will have a different set of morals, no one can be entirely free of prejudices which would affect a decision,

but, as sadolekced sain there is noway the system can ever be perfect, therefo mistakes will always be made
lower populations would not necessarily affect crime rates which are often available in aper hundren thousand statistic

1) The best we can hope for is to at least curb some of the folly that exists right now. If Thomas Edison had that same mindset, one of 'We'll never be able to entirely get this right', this beautiful debating forum wouldn't be here.

Who's to say we can't make a substantial difference?

2) Sorry, but you're wrong in this instance. It's logical that more people are going to die in California than in Alaska annually, because almost 25 times more people live there.

There doesn't even need to be a statistic given here, it's a common logic point.

[racoons > you]

^^

o i didnt mean that we should try to get things right that would be ridiculous, merely that nothing will ever be perfect, and mistakes suh as the one n your fist post will allwatys occur....


and jjsut because fewer people are killed, doesnt mean that the actual crie RATE is higher or lower. you measure rates by comparison to the total population. not by just comparing straight figures, which as you yourself said is illogical

[f4113n]

What has bred such stupidity in an institute of the United States that was designed to curtail such stupid acts?

oh and u forgot that he might just go free without any penalty at all for the 2nd crime because of double jepoardy (sp?), it depends on the state he was in. then again, take a good look around the world. are there any better systems of justice?

[*CrackedRearView*]

oh and u forgot that he might just go free without any penalty at all for the 2nd crime because of double jepoardy (sp?), it depends on the state he was in. then again, take a good look around the world. are there any better systems of justice?

Actually, civil liberties and freedoms are plenty in the United Kingdom, and they have a fairly low crime rate. As well, hours of research has shown only the United States to lock up a serial killer, and then release him.

And what I meant by the comparison thing is simple.

In California, there are more people to be murderers, and more people to be murdered.

Whereas, in Alaska there are fewer people to be murderers, and fewer people to be murdered.

[sadolakced acid]

i still like my antarctica idea.

completely reversable; you can alwasy be shipped back to america if you're innocent.

there is no escape (because the nuclear reactors will make heat, there will be no need to give prisoners coats. thus, they can't go out of the domes. you don't even need locks...)

they would support themselves, and could research thier case (if we gave them a library... ) and do the appeals themselves.


saves tones of money, no?


good point... i probably can't find an instance of an innocent being executed...

but there have been many (over 10) people on death row released because DNA evidence proved they were innocent.

the reason why peoople who've been executed aren't proved innocent is because there's no point, and you don't have the DNA anymore.

[sadolakced acid]

bleh... servers...

[nevernothere]

You know what? No justice system is perfect. Ours does have some serious flaws, but I'm not going to complain. Why not? Well because I respect this country, I respect how they'll let you complain without any penalty.. so I won't complain... <-- sorry if that sounds like real bad logic... but still.. the US justice system is much better than say... China... where you are arbitrarily sentenced to death for some minor crime you might not have even committed.

[*CrackedRearView*]

You know what? No justice system is perfect. Ours does have some serious flaws, but I'm not going to complain. Why not? Well because I respect this country, I respect how they'll let you complain without any penalty.. so I won't complain... <-- sorry if that sounds like real bad logic... but still.. the US justice system is much better than say... China... where you are arbitrarily sentenced to death for some minor crime you might not have even committed.

I agree with you wholeheartedly...

I just see folly and ignorance in this statistic:

"13,000 people are killed annually by repeat offenders."

[*nightmare4taki*]

Our justice system is f*cked up. Its all based on Race, Social life, and Economic status and nothing more. Anyone who thinks otherwise must be blind. Especially if your BLACK. If your black you get a more harsher sentence than anyone else. Hell I know this case where a Black man went to jail for over 20 years just for stealing a snickers bar. Those guys from Enron get to be treated like royalty and take turns serving their 10 year sentences because they have kids. So do all the other people in jail. Why should that matter? They screwed thousands of people out of their money.

[Individualityy]

Our justice system would rather have guilty people walking the streets than one innocent person in jail...

I don't like that. =/.

[sadolakced acid]

ok. i accuse you of murder.

you might be guilty, so we're going to lock you up anyways, just to be safe.