Where is the justice in the judicial system?

[gilberto_eire]

this is some thing that has always bothered me and after reading our local paper there i said id open a thread to hear other ppls view on it...

2 cases before the court

1. a man(aged 17) who molested his younger bro(aged 14) and sister(aged 7) for a 3yr period in the 70's. it was a sickening case in which he threatened(and used) violence to get them to follow his commands for a THREE year period
anyway he got 2 yrs with the final 9 mths suspended... so 15 mths(which isnt really 15mths but ill get back to that as this is a part of the problem at hand)

2.a 23yr old male caught with 7 ''9bars'' of hash(a 9bar has 9ounces in it and a ounce costs €80-€90... total ''street value'' of €7,000 in the eyes of the cops even though you'd only sell a bar for €600-700 each
he gets 3yrs with the last yr suspended....yes THREE yrs

so a sick minded individual ruins 2 peoples lives and gets 15mths,
while a fella selling a soft drug to the likes of you and me, hard working law abiding citizens, which in no way makes us do any harm to others by taking it(basically it doesnt hurt society is what im trying to say) and he gets 2 yrs!!
where is the logic in this??......
my sentencing of these two would be like this......
paedo gets 10+years
drug dealer(shouldnt even be illegal) 3mths

week in week out i read about these known scumbags around town who are constantly up for car theft,assault, burgulary, muggings etc... and they get a mth here and 2 mths there for these charges.... they do up to 1yr for 4/5 charges like previously mentioned only to do them again and again....
and who suffers??.... we do.... they rob our cars, our houses, beat us for no reason, mug us....and why do we let them constantly get the opportunities to instill fear in us??..
why do the courts favour the criminals..... i know some ppl mess up and need 2nd chances but im taking about 90% of the people here...jail them for life...
i go out and kill someone tommorow i get what 7yrs??.... a drug dealer gets what 2-3yrs(and that isnt even for much)

and the 2nd messed up part is the ''good behaviour'' you get 3 yrs.... you do half if you behave.... WTF is that about??.... you get 7yrs for killing someone you should do the 7yrs... personally i dont think you should ever get out!!

why hasnt the judicial system been re-organised can anyone honestly say that if we wanted say..... 10yrs+ for the paedo that someone could say...
''no way!!''
who could honestly say they would go against it, what right-minded person would think that that sentence(10yrs+) is un-fair??

i could never understand why the laws and sentences are set up to favour the small minority of paedos,killers,scumbags...who would oppose right proper sentences??

any thoughts??

[pete]

Politicians make laws, Judges rule on them. Politicians provide places or not in jails, judges work within the capacity of the system..

Mandatory sentences will hardly fix it.

Prison should be to punish as rehabilitation rarely works.

[gilberto_eire]

i understand the cost of keeping them locked up but imo it would be cheaper to keep these scum bags locked up instead of constantly been let out... who wouldnt pay a bit more tax for a crime free society!!??

[Soper]

You'd never get a crime free society though. Hypothetically speaking, once the one type of scummy criminal was dealt with, there'd be more. And so on. And when, hypothetically, they were dealt with, the judicial system would have no choice but to then clamp down on even lesser crimes - the likes of your animal rights protester, or kids drinking under-age. I guess what I am saying is that you could pay all the tax in the world, but there is always going to be crime. And let this post be a lesson - never try to sound comprehensible at 3.30 in the morning.

[osarusan]

while a fella selling a soft drug to the likes of you and me, hard working law abiding citizens

In this case, you are buying drugs so you are not law-abiding citizens. Not under the current laws.




paedo gets 10+years
drug dealer(shouldnt even be illegal) 3mths

Why shouldn't it be illegal?

Are you talking about only hash, or all drugs?

If you want to argue that hash is less damaging and dangerous than alcohol for example, I fully agree, but that is a case for banning alcohol, not legalizing hash. It is generally agreed that alcohol, if it was discovered now, would be considered a class A drug.

[Bald Student]

It is generally agreed that alcohol, if it was discovered now, would be considered a class A drug.It's also widely believed that the passive voice is often used to cover up someone's bluff.

[kingdom hoop]

Bit of a can of worms here but I think GilbertoEire touched upon some good points. Primarily, the kind of soft hard crime like robbing houses or beatings which, for the angst caused to the community at large, when it comes to punishment needs to be approached with more proportionality or something a bit more novel. For example, when someone hears of a beating in their town it makes them feel ill at ease. For parents there is the worry of their child being out at night and for those who are out there is the threat of someone lurking in the shadows ready to get their, if you'll excuse the pun, kick out of the weekend. In other words ther is a lot more detriment than just the crime of itself such that the punishment should represent the overall harm inflicted a lot more. This, in essence, is the view of probably the best theorist, certainly most logical, on punishment for criminality, Jeremy Bentham. Basically, he postulated that there needs to be a balance between the evil caused by the crime and the punishment served. Where is the balance between someone up on maybe ten public order charges being put away for a few months with his friends to do nothing all day? The public is not getting value for money and the criminal is minimally deterred. Terrible scenario.

As things stand our system doesn't punish the crime proportionally so by extension the criminal is not faced with enough of a deterrent, and as a result our streets have a steady flow of violence and other pointless shenanigans. One could argue that the system has not been contorted to deal with the increase in criminality and societal changes over the years. For example, years ago prison would have been a huge social stigma. Whereas nowadays there is a large minority of society that wouldn't bat an eyelid if their contemporary was sent to prison. There are myriad more points but I don't have time to write more about this at the moment so for now I'll just say; get those criminals back on the railroads, let them repay their debt to society, in a meaningful way that actually discourages misdemeanours.

Oh, and I look forward to rolling up to a re-hashed debate on one of society's weeds.:)

[gilberto_eire]

In this case, you are buying drugs so you are not law-abiding citizens. Not under the current laws.




Why shouldn't it be illegal?

Are you talking about only hash, or all drugs?

If you want to argue that hash is less damaging and dangerous than alcohol for example, I fully agree, but that is a case for banning alcohol, not legalizing hash. It is generally agreed that alcohol, if it was discovered now, would be considered a class A drug.

i dont smoke anymore but i rarely know a person who doesnt all hard working, law abiding ppl(apart frm smoking hash), who pay tax etc....
why should someone caught with a miniscule amount of hash get a yr longer that a sick pervery who ruined 2 ppls lives??

ooh no im just talking about hash the rest is a differant story

[osarusan]

It's also widely believed that the passive voice is often used to cover up someone's bluff.



Fair enough - I thought it was common knowledge.



Alcohol is our favourite drug. Most of us use it for enjoyment, but for some of us, drinking can become a serious problem.

Most people don't realise that alcohol causes much more harm than illegal drugs like heroin and cannabis. It is a tranquilliser, it is addictive and it helps to cause many hospital admissions for physical illnesses and accidents.


Full article from The Royal College of Psychiatrists (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinformation/mentalhealthproblems/alcoholanddrugs/alcoholourfavouritedrug.aspx)


Alcohol was rated the fifth most harmful drug, ahead of some current class A drugs, while tobacco was listed as ninth. Cannabis, currently rated a class C drug, was below both those legal stimulants at 11th

Full article from the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5230006.stm)

[John83]

Oh, and I look forward to rolling up to a re-hashed debate on one of society's weeds.:)
You should be stoned for making puns like that.