I'm not going to "hope" that they guy really isn't a threat to my kids.
I never said that. My concern is that the odds that he is interested in meeting children for harmful purposes is heightened. Who know what his real motives are. Again, I'm not going to roll the dice and hope that I was wrong.
If you aren't going to "hope", why let them out of prison if you have any hesitation or doubt? That's probably what I don't understand about your argument.
Exactly. If you still don't trust them after you let a criminal out, then prison is a glorified (and very expensive) penalty box. In fact, putting someone in prison and letting them back out only gives them an opportunity to meet other criminals and expand their possibilities for committing crimes. It sort of guarantees that they'll come back.
Exactly. If you still don't trust them after you let a criminal out, then prison is a glorified (and very expensive) penalty box.
It's a valid point though: is the primary purpose of incarceration punishment or rehabilitation? While I think there's agreement on incarceration as deterrence, I believe someone of a more classical standpoint would believe the primary objective after a crime is committed is punishment. A more liberal standpoint would see incarceration as rehabilitation.
Funny and true story: Thaed recommended me to a Cleveland lawyer who is an expert on HOA laws. Turns out that's the lawyer who filed the restriction with the county recorder.
I'm kind of writing this in a hurry, and I haven't had a chance to read all of the posts, so I don't know if this has been brought up or not.
As someone who has had a LOT of experience with defendants, I can say that probation and parole is important because it gives them a goal which helps the administrators deal with them while they are actually incarcerated.
While they are there, they can do things like behave, get a GED, take vocational classes, etc. that make it more likely they will achieve probation or parole and achieve it sooner. If they didn't have that carrot, they'd be a lot more likely to just lay about and cause trouble.
Also, it's a major, major aid to plea negotiations. If a prosecutor offers 15 years, you can tell your defendant that he'll be eligible for parole in 20 percent of that time (in KY if it's not a violent felony - then it would be 80 percent), he'll get time subtracted for good time, time subtracted for getting training, rehab, GED, and so forth. It makes that plea much easier to sell.
Once they're out, probation and parole also gives them a chance to reintegrate. Most people can't just turn off the institutionalization they've experienced. Probation and parole officers can help them get into halfway houses, apartments, jobs, rehab programs, and so forth, and they monitor the defendants so that they might be slightly less likely to offend again.
Edit: I find it odd that Scott has such a problem with HOA's when they are so easily avoided. It is highly unlikely that an HOA will ever affect him in any way. I don't like HOAs either. My solution? Never buy a house in a subdivision controlled by an HOA. Problem solved.
On the other hand, when it becomes clear that the current administration is listening to our telephone calls and committing all sorts of other abuses that have a much higher liklihood of affecting him than any HOA, he just says, "Meh."
Getting a GED? So what percentage of people who are sent to prison/jail each year don't have high school diplomas? Perhaps if we went around finding and helping people who never graduated high school, we could prevent a great deal of crime? I don't imagine that if I went to jail that getting a GED would help me out.
How easy it is to avoid an HOA depends on where you are. Also, new housing developments are the easiest places to find houses for sale that actually have modern amenities like central air, proper electrical wiring, quality plumbing, etc. It is much harder to find a modernly constructed house that is not in HOA territory without building your own, which can be more expensive.
Getting a GED? So what percentage of people who are sent to prison/jail each year don't have high school diplomas?
I can't link to any statistics right now, but in my personal experience, the percentage of defendants who didn't have a HS diploma was about the same as the percentage of geeks I know who can quote bits from Monty Python.
Comments
Am I way off base with this?
1) Punishment
2) Deterrence
3) Rehabilitation
Pretty much every jurisdiction balances the three objectives. The differences are in what weight you give to each objective.
As someone who has had a LOT of experience with defendants, I can say that probation and parole is important because it gives them a goal which helps the administrators deal with them while they are actually incarcerated.
While they are there, they can do things like behave, get a GED, take vocational classes, etc. that make it more likely they will achieve probation or parole and achieve it sooner. If they didn't have that carrot, they'd be a lot more likely to just lay about and cause trouble.
Also, it's a major, major aid to plea negotiations. If a prosecutor offers 15 years, you can tell your defendant that he'll be eligible for parole in 20 percent of that time (in KY if it's not a violent felony - then it would be 80 percent), he'll get time subtracted for good time, time subtracted for getting training, rehab, GED, and so forth. It makes that plea much easier to sell.
Once they're out, probation and parole also gives them a chance to reintegrate. Most people can't just turn off the institutionalization they've experienced. Probation and parole officers can help them get into halfway houses, apartments, jobs, rehab programs, and so forth, and they monitor the defendants so that they might be slightly less likely to offend again.
Edit: I find it odd that Scott has such a problem with HOA's when they are so easily avoided. It is highly unlikely that an HOA will ever affect him in any way. I don't like HOAs either. My solution? Never buy a house in a subdivision controlled by an HOA. Problem solved.
On the other hand, when it becomes clear that the current administration is listening to our telephone calls and committing all sorts of other abuses that have a much higher liklihood of affecting him than any HOA, he just says, "Meh."
How easy it is to avoid an HOA depends on where you are. Also, new housing developments are the easiest places to find houses for sale that actually have modern amenities like central air, proper electrical wiring, quality plumbing, etc. It is much harder to find a modernly constructed house that is not in HOA territory without building your own, which can be more expensive.