@Teri_Kanefield

Just clicked the link and it works like a charm. 😀

@Teri_Kanefield Great read, as always!

At the risk of dramatically understating the point, and as I'm sure others will note, it seems to me that a discussion of criminal law & incarceration in the US is incomplete without a discussion of race; will that be a forthcoming installment in this series?

@Teri_Kanefield Neat!

This post got me thinking about another reasin for the law, as some people see it: to trip up bad people. Not to hold everyone to uniform standards of conduct, but to bedevil bad people. Those who view the law this way, consider it an abuse of the system whenever they (or people they like) are prosecuted.

@Teri_Kanefield: Excellent post. It seems to me at least that our legal system has never yet been able to decide whether to be punitive or rehabilitative as the political winds continually shift. The punitive bent has resulted in massive over imprisonment and high levels of recidivism, while there are instances where rehabilitation has also fallen short when the perpetrator(s) in question lack the ability or will to reform. In many ways, it comes down to balancing some people’s innate predatory instincts or desperation due to their living situation with the demands of modern societal living.

The question of mental capacity in the courtroom is a tough one. How can society balance public safety with fairness for somebody whose medical issues make them dangerous? A victim injured or killed by a person who commits violence because of a brain tumor or other organic physiological cause isn’t any less injured or dead.

@Teri_Kanefield
"The problem with a grand theory like ‘retribution restores the balance of the universe’ "

Also: a victim who has been murdered - what possible balance could be restored to them? Once a person has been murdered, no further justice is possible for that person, it seems to me.

Fascinating article, thanks