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Comment by imperialdrive | Hacker News Reader

The US legal system is built in a way that prevents itself from ever being 'too sure' of something on purpose. It's a safety mechanism to provide some flexibility and protection in edge cases. Technology systems have a very different set of requirements for success.

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Ok. That's great to hear. But isn't that ambiguity used by whoever has the legal authority to enforce what they want, rather than what's "right?"

It’s awfully sure about statutory sentencing.

You're just not waiting long enough.

Give it another 50 years or so and statutory sentencing probably go away. It's a system that moves so slowly that it can take multiple generations to correct wrongs. I think that's considered a feature for long-term stability, but it seems like poor design to me.

If you look at a long enough timescale, we are trending in the right direction.

California’s Determinate Sentencing Law was enacted not long ago, in ‘77. What would you call that? A local minimum? In any event, I can only wait as long as I’m not convicted of a crime which carries a statutory sentence. How long is it fair for those already sentenced to wait from the comfort of their prison cells?

It's not fair, but I meant 50 more years. I figure real change takes about 4 generations to happen.

If it makes you feel better, you can think of the non-violent imprisoned as grains of sand on the scales of justice. Your persistent outrage helps push for change in the same way.

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