Do we really need the BTP
 

On Fri, 25 May 2012 13:36:48 +0100
Bruce wrote:
This would seem to offer strong support to those who argue that repeat
offenders should be locked up and the key thrown away as in the USA.
Personally, I think it points to the absence or failure of any real
effort to rehabilitate convicted offenders.

Some people are a victim of circumstance and can be rehabilitated, some are
just born bad and can never be. The UK legal system doesn't seem to make any
distinction between the 2.

B2003

Do we really need the BTP
 

On 25-May-12 07:46, d wrote:
On Fri, 25 May 2012 13:36:48 +0100
Bruce wrote:
This would seem to offer strong support to those who argue that repeat
offenders should be locked up and the key thrown away as in the USA.
Personally, I think it points to the absence or failure of any real
effort to rehabilitate convicted offenders.

Some people are a victim of circumstance and can be rehabilitated, some
are just born bad and can never be.

I don't buy the "born bad" argument. However, I will grant that some
people's socialization as children/teens is so bad that they can never
be rehabilitated.

The UK legal system doesn't seem to make any distinction between the 2.

Neither does the US legal system, for the most part. Distinguishing
between the two cases in a fair and impartial way appears to be
impossible, so we don't even bother trying.

Also, harsh sentences for first-time offenders forces them into a life
of crime just to survive; they can never escape after that no matter how
much they may want to. In reality, most of the people you claim were
"born bad" were really just born _poor_.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

Do we really need the BTP
 

On Fri, 25 May 2012 12:28:26 -0500
Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 25-May-12 07:46, d wrote:
On Fri, 25 May 2012 13:36:48 +0100
Bruce wrote:
This would seem to offer strong support to those who argue that repeat
offenders should be locked up and the key thrown away as in the USA.
Personally, I think it points to the absence or failure of any real
effort to rehabilitate convicted offenders.

Some people are a victim of circumstance and can be rehabilitated, some
are just born bad and can never be.

I don't buy the "born bad" argument. However, I will grant that some

Some people are - they're called psychopaths. Its a brain fault and there's
nothing you can do about it. I've never understood why its so obvious that
people are born with different physical capabilities but some people just
refuse to accept that people are also born with different mental capabilities
and ways of thinking.

much they may want to. In reality, most of the people you claim were
"born bad" were really just born _poor_.

********. There are billions of people born poor - it doesn't turn them into
murderers or rapist or rioters. "born poor" is the lazy patronising excuse
of guilt ridden middle classes liberals because it fits nicely into their
social engineering agenda.

B2003

Do we really need the BTP
 

On 28/05/2012 09:55, d wrote:

********. There are billions of people born poor - it doesn't turn them into
murderers or rapist or rioters. "born poor" is the lazy patronising excuse
of guilt ridden middle classes liberals because it fits nicely into their
social engineering agenda.

B2003

This may be braoadly true, but I am not guilt ridden or middle class and
only pose as a liberal to disguise my true nature. I am a working class
arts graduate and a blood driniking Commie.

--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman