Recommended Posts

Before 1965 and after 1995 it does correlate, and in the middle was a period where "prison reform" was tried. Violent crime rose until the early 1990's when 2 things happened: increased minimum sentences and liberalized self defense laws.

now compare stats with european states that focus on rehab and you'll see that those numbers do in fact show your system is flawed. 

 

Also what happens when all those violent prisoners that are locked up for long time are getting out. then you get the same reversal you had before. untill you again start building even more prison, untill half the population has prison as their adress. 

Before 1965 and after 1995 it does correlate, and in the middle was a period where "prison reform" was tried. Violent crime rose until the early 1990's when 2 things happened: increased minimum sentences and liberalized self defense laws.

Correlation does not imply causation

To hell with rehabilitation--they committed such an atrocity--they need to be put to death--period.  No need to waste taxpayers' money on them anymore than the needle and poison needed to put them to death.  We won't ever have to worry about them committing more crimes.

To hell with rehabilitation--they committed such an atrocity--they need to be put to death--period.  No need to waste taxpayers' money on them anymore than the needle and poison needed to put them to death.  We won't ever have to worry about them committing more crimes.

Unless they reincarnate.

I don't think that's quite what was said... No need to be so defensive.

 

Like I said - don't get so defensive over it.  From the rest of the world's standpoint, there's a pattern of "America does ______, we're right".

What I've always wondered is how can some defense lawyers defend scum like this? I know, a job is a job but... c'mon.

 

Pretty sue you asked this before, or someone did.  Here's the explanation:

 

1) They have to.  A lawyer has to do a certain percentage of pro-bono work, at least in the UK.

2) They don't do it because they like or care or respect the client.  They do it because they believe in and respect the legal system. The legal system of trial by jury and due process is VERY important.  They recognise this and while they may not care for the defendant in the case, they do care for upholding the system

Like I said - don't get so defensive over it.  From the rest of the world's standpoint, there's a pattern of "America does ______, we're right".

 

Really?  On these forums?  Seems more like no one really cares that much what is going on in Europe, except Europeans.  In fact, most of the weird posts about Americans come from Americans, which triggers an onslaught of "Americans have no clue how to..." or "Americans are so far behind in..." from non-Americans.

 

That's fine, of course... it is an open forum for discussion.  I just noted that when something like that comes up generally the first people to condescend are... not from here.

 

The fact is, I DO believe our system requires an overhaul.  I've "blogged" about it (whoo hooooo!  I blog!) but my thoughts are a little extreme -or- perhaps too old-fashioned in concept to appeal to most and probably nigh on impossible to implement now.  But that isn't the point I am trying to make.  My point is that every time Americans start discussing a pretty much localized issue, non-Americans feel the need to step in and point out just how "flawed" our "system" is.

----------

 

And to be clear, I don't dislike (or think inferior) Europeans or Asians or Africans, etc.  I have friends in France and Germany (not Americans living there, actual "natives").  One attended our wedding (which was cool that he would fly from Germany to do so!)

 

People are pretty much the same all over the world, or so it seems to me based on my customer service experience for DEC, many years ago, and I have never met anyone I did not like.

How can lawyers defend these people?I understand it's their work but aren't they humans?

 

From an article in the American Bar Association...

 

https://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/repugnantclients.html

 

 

 

Representing Repugnant Clients

Every Lawyer?s Choice?

By Scott D. Laufenberg

Are a sense of justice and professional responsibility all that a lawyer considers in deciding whether to take on a case or to choose between Case A and Case B? In the glow of law school ethics or professionalism courses, this noble sense of fulfilling the right to representation appears admirable, even sometimes seductive. But it is often unrealistic.

This is not to say that seasoned attorneys are not idealistic. Many of us take cases when no one else will help or when the client cannot pay. But it is one thing to accept such a case by choice?and entirely another for a lawyer to be required to represent a specific client but have no say in the decision. Practicing law is challenging enough without having mandatory representation thrust upon us. Attorneys should be free to decide whether or not to represent a client or cause.

...

I don't think that's quite what was said... No need to be so defensive.

 

Well, maybe I misinterpreted what was said...

 

 

 

When it comes to crimes, rehabilitation and "punishment" and impact on society, yes we do. 

 

(that was in response to my "defensive" statement)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Stellarium 26.2 by Razvan Serea Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go. Stellarium key features: Realistic simulation of the sky, sunrise and sunset Default catalogue of over 600,000 stars Downloadable additional catalogues for up to 210 million stars Catalog data for all New General Catalogue (NGC) objects Images of almost all Messier objects and the Milky Way Artistic illustrations for all 88 modern constellations More than a dozen different cultures with their constellations Solar and lunar eclipse simulation Photorealistic landscapes (more are available on the website) Scripting support with ECMAScript (a few demo scripts are included) Extendable with plug-ins: 8 plug-ins installed by default, including: artificial satellites plug-in (updated from an on-line TLE database) ocular simulation plug-in (shows how objects look like in a given ocular) Solar System editor plug-in (imports comet and asteroid data from the MPC) telescope control plug-in (Meade LX200 and Celestron NexStar compatible) The major changes of this version: Added new sky culture Added new plugin: Planes Many improvements in plugins Many improvements in Core and GUI Many updates in sky cultures. [full release notes] Download: Stellarium 26.2 (64-bit) | 456.0 MB (Open Source) View: Stellarium Home Page | Other Operating Systems | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • NASA: This asteroid may not kill us but it probably won't be far off either by Sayan Sen Image by Zelch Csaba via Pexels New observations by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have eliminated the last remaining impact threat posed by asteroid 2024 YR4, ruling out the possibility that the near-Earth object could strike the Moon in December 2032. NASA said observations collected by Webb on February 18 and 26, 2026, enabled scientists to refine the asteroid's orbit enough to "rule out a chance of lunar impact on Dec. 22, 2032." Instead, asteroid 2024 YR4 is now expected to pass the Moon at a distance of about 13,200 miles (21,200 km). The agency stressed that the update "reflects improved precision in our understanding of where the asteroid is expected to be in 2032 rather than a shift in its orbital path." The announcement closes a remarkable chapter in planetary defence that began in late 2024, when the approximately 60-metre-wide asteroid briefly became the most closely watched near-Earth object in the world. Discovered on December 27, 2024, by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, 2024 YR4 initially appeared to have a small chance of colliding with Earth on December 22, 2032. As astronomers gathered more observations, the impact probability briefly climbed to around 3%—the highest ever recorded for an asteroid of its size—before steadily falling as its orbit became better understood. By early 2025, international observations had ruled out any significant risk to Earth. However, astronomers were left with another possibility: a roughly 4% chance that the asteroid could instead strike the Moon. "The probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 will strike the Moon on 22 December 2032 is now approximately 4%," the European Space Agency (ESA) had said last year, noting that "there is a 96% chance that the asteroid will not impact the Moon." ESA said such an impact, while unlikely, would have presented an extraordinary scientific opportunity. "It is a very rare event for an asteroid this large to impact the Moon – and it is rarer still that we know about it in advance. The impact would likely be visible from Earth, and so scientists will be very excited by the prospect of observing and analysing it," said Richard Moissl, Head of ESA's Planetary Defence Office. "It would certainly leave a new crater on the surface. However, we wouldn't be able to accurately predict in advance how much material would be thrown into space, or whether any would reach Earth," he added. The asteroid also exposed an important blind spot in planetary defence. Because 2024 YR4 approached Earth from the direction of the Sun, it remained hidden from ground-based telescopes until after its closest approach. "We looked into how Neomir would have performed in this situation, and the simulations surprised even us," Moissl said. "Neomir would have detected asteroid 2024 YR4 about a month earlier than ground-based telescopes did. This would have given astronomers more time to study the asteroid's trajectory and allowed them to much sooner rule out any chance of Earth impact in 2032." He added, "As an infrared telescope, like Webb, Neomir would have also immediately given us a much better estimate for the asteroid's size, which is very important for assessing the significance of the hazard." The latest NASA observations underscore the value of space-based infrared telescopes in tracking faint asteroids. According to NASA, Webb made "among the faintest ever observations of an asteroid," extending the object's observational record by nearly eight months at a time when it had become too faint for other telescopes. That additional data allowed scientists to eliminate the remaining uncertainty surrounding its 2032 flyby. Although asteroid 2024 YR4 is now confirmed to pose no threat to either Earth or the Moon, scientists say its discovery remains one of the most significant real-world tests of the international planetary defence system, demonstrating how continued observations can rapidly transform an object once considered hazardous into one whose future path is known with high confidence. Source: NASA, ESA This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • Yup. Google is just scraping the entire internet for their own ad profits without sharing revenue with the sources. It's obviously stealing, but since these sites depend upon Google's search scraps to survive... As for me, I just stopped using Google for anything except Reddit searches. If Reddit's own search wasn't complete crapola, I'd never use Google search again.
    • I had a feeling this was coming. Picked up my first Mac ever last Saturday. Glad I did.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
    • Apprentice
      daryld went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Contributor
      Carltonbar went up a rank
      Contributor
    • One Month Later
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      419
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      170
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      130
    4. 4
      Xenon
      69
    5. 5
      neufuse
      69
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!