Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For Shoplifting, page 5

Originally posted by Snarf
reply to post by truthquest

Its disturbing that you think someone's personality and how courteous they are to the judge should determine the punishment for a crime. Sadly, people with such nonsensical positions seem to be judges and police men these days.

Why is it disturbing? Respect goes a long way. If you are truly remorseful for what you've done, it says something in the way of "i wont ever do this again". Remorseful people aren't loud mouthed pricks cursing & swearing in a court room.

If you're disrespectful and obnoxious then chances are you feel you're above the law and need to be taught a lesson.

I agree, 100% with it. And i laugh every time someone pathetically stands up for a convicted criminal.

Every single time.

Right, if someone feels a ways the judges or police do not approve of, like for example they don't feel respect for a criminal justice system that makes up its own rules as it goes along and operates under something close to complete anarchy, then they should go to prison for life, because they are the kind of person who refuses to kiss your butt and pretend they don't feel exactly how you want them to feel.

Honestly, there is NO GREATER "CRIME" in the United States of America then not feeling all warm and fuzzy when seeing a judge who is about to sentence you. I mean, if you disrespect and old lady or your neighbor that is one thing... but disrespect the government who has all the guns and tells you how to think and feel... you cannot do a more wrongful and terrible crime. Beating an old lady or some kid in the neighborhood is on thing, but if you beat a police officer you belong in prison for life because you disrespect authority and there is no greater thought crime possible. Right, snarf?

Authority is above the rest of us, and most of all above their own rules they set for the rest of us to follow . Therefore, disrespecting them is a bigger crime because they are super special and need special rights and privileges that the rest of us don't have, right Snarf? Is authority extra special people who deserve extra-special treatment Snarf? Please do answer that one!

The law system is all about forcing people to think a certain way, right? Just like in the mafia, if you don't pay proper respects to the mob boss and kiss their butt properly, you may find yourself in a hole for the rest of your life just like this prick (the perpetual petty thief from the OP) who stole something and thought that since he was in a free country he could tell the judge what he thought without kissing the judges butt up and down just right and then apologize for something he couldn't possibly have been sorry for considering it was his 15th time or so.

Of course Snarf, all of this is sarcastic. Your idea that a minority must kiss butt and feel and think a certain way just because the majority of us want that is ridiculous. Ever hear of the concept of equal rights? You have but are ignoring it.

Let me tell you how I feel. I don't feel that any one man deserves respect over another in most cases. So, what should be my punishment for having those feelings? Its not too far off from the feelings the man had who *had feelings* that he was above the law. I don't think I'm above the law but I do think I should be treated equally as the law. In a democracy the people them selves are supposed to be the law.

We seem to have different ideas of justice. My idea of justice is that if someone commits a crime the criminal should have to compensate the victims. Secondly, criminals should be kept from committing crimes in the future using whatever reasonable steps necessary to prevent that.

Had you said that is the point of what happened, to keep the person from harming others, I would understand. But you didn't! You said that the man deserves life in prison because he thinks and feels thoughts that you don't approve of, a fact that is beyond outrageous, but downright criminal in and of itself if that were the judges actual basis of verdict. You would probably claim to like justice but you are supporting something unjust... punishing someone for their internal feelings!

I find it next to shocking that you can sit there and tell me that someones thoughts and feelings should determine how badly they are punished. I mean just go ahead and say it... you do not believe in the freedom of expression and you do not believe people have the right to think and feel how they want to. That will make the discussion short and simple.

In my world, justice is about two things:
1. Victim Compensation
2. Preventing future victimization.

In your world, as it would seem to me, justice is about these two things:
1. Revenge
2. Submission of the little people to the supreme authorities

Because if your world was more like mine you could not care less about things like whether the person committed crime because of hate or because of love, whether they did it with a bad attitude or a good attitude, and you would be more concerned with actually simply straightening things out by compensating victims and then preventing that kind of thing from happening again. Contrary to popular opinion, vengeance is not a virtue. Contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing special about authority that makes them deserve special rights and privileges that the rest of us don't have (including the use of force or imprisonment to get courtesy and/or respect from others).