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PhasmaFelis

"I'd say all of them got a slap on the wrist."

The two judges are in their 60s. They'll probably die in prison. I'm satisfied with that.

The other two fuckers, yeah.

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I'm disturbed by the "lock 'em up" mentality that calls a 30-year sentence a 'slap on the wrist'.

It's exactly this kind of harsh desire for repercussions that enabled the judges to get away with what they did in the first place.

I agree with the idea that we are in general too mindlessly harsh with prison sentences. But that shouldn't prohibit exceptions. These guys, judges and prison profiteers, are an exception. They ruined and took lives for profit, and they are society's last line of defense, the supposed reason for us not to indulge in vigilantism. They are fucking civilization. They deserve to die in prison, and not the one that paid them. They're a cancer.

I agree. I'm not arguing for the sentences to be reduced, and I'm surprised at the shortness of two of the sentences. I generally think that if abuse of authority is involved, then harsh sentences are warranted. But to characterise a 17- and a 28-year sentence as a 'slap on the wrist' is indicative of a damaging mindset around sentencing.

Those are not light nor trivial sentences, and characterising such long sentences as such gives us things like decade-long 'three-strikes' sentences for stealing pizza.

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I don't care whether you're a jaywalker or Hitler. Stealing pizza should not be handed a 25-year sentence, regardless if it was from a group of children or not. Recidivism should merely prevent leniency in sentencing, it shouldn't turn a trivial offence into a lifelong burden. The punishment should fit the crime.

Even if you don't care for rehabilitation of the criminal, a 25-year sentence is incredibly expensive to enforce, and stretches resources that could be better applied to more serious criminals. I mean, seriously, what once was a sentence for murder is now a sentence for stealing food? How is that not hysterical?

But they did something that warranted a "lock em up". They materially damaged families and children's lives (in a position of public trust) far more than their sentences convey.

The other 2 he is referring to are the ones who got a slap on the wrist though.

I think they should be executed by ling chi.

Regardless of their age, 28 years is more than enough time in prison for any crime.

28 years - yep, it may sound at first like a long time (even though they destroyed decades of life for their victims). Yet with good behavior these snakes will probably be out in 7 (if i understand the system correctly), and it doesn't look like they are going to serve time in any serious security tough facility.

There is no longer parole in the federal system. Even with good behavior, a 28 year sentence can be no shorter 24 years and change.

Yes, perhaps better would be less time + public burning at the stake (or reverse the order), especially in extreme cases where innocents were damaged severely and there is little doubt that the prosecution is unfair.

Our society sometimes looks like something Charles Dickens wrote about (or worse). Bringing back the old punishments (drawing & quartering, hanging, etc.) might help, but I doubt it.

transportation to the colonies? actually now I think about it...

How about caning?

"How about caning?"

A Brit once told me that it was very effective in helping one to focus. He claimed that his caning in mathematics class was responsible for his Ph.D. in math.

Actually I thought of the caning they use in Singapore as a form of punishment for crimes. Pretty cruel, but I guess it beats getting raped in American prisons.

I'd really hate to say it but people who abuse authority in this manner don't deserve to enjoy being members of society. How many lives do you have to destroy before we destroy yours? 10, 100, 1000?

I can empathise, but that is not the role of the courts. Particularly when the problem is systemic.

The court's role here should be to sentence in a way that a) offsets the incentives that exist for corruption, and b) provides restitution where possible.

The problem is not evil individuals, but that incentives for corruption exist in the first place.

It's really not that hard to choose not to mastermind a child slavery pipeline from a position of power atop state government. This isn't the sort of crime that underpriveleged individuals get forced into.

I find it a little ironic that in a story that indicates that the system is horribly corrupt, you would advocate that the same system be allowed to destroy lives.

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