Quote:
Originally posted by Freyja
Our justice system is incredibly lenient though. How often to the perpetrators of these crimes actually get a sentence which fits the crime?
We only have to look at the lads who killed Jamie Bulger to see how much of a joke the law is in this country. They are living new lives with new identities. In my view they should have been incarcerated for life.
I like the way the law works in (some of) the states in America. People get sentenced for each crime, and then the sentences get added together. So, a serial killer could theoretically be serving 150 years in prison, meaning that even taking into account reduced sentences for good behaviour, they'd still be in jail a pretty long time.
I have two children Ange, and to be honest, it scares me that children are capable of such crimes. I raise mine well, but maybe some of these boys were raised "well" also. All it takes is to get in with the wrong crowd, and a well-adjusted, normal teenager can turn into this. I think it's because of our lax laws though. Criminals get away with so much and it can lead to a feeling of invincibility for some when they see others doing crimes and not paying the price.
Where I live there are a lot of young people who break the law and generally act like idiots, but there are equally as many who don't. I think it must be hard for the kids who live in rough areas to get recognised for the good things that they do. Too often, people judge you on where you live, and because a selection of your community behave badly, they assume you will too. I got that to an extent when I was a teenager, but it's so much worse now. It's a shame, because there are a lot of good kids in this area, who go to school, do well, and try to make something of their lives, and yet the only ones which ever get highlighted are the ones who don't.
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yeah we have the same debates here in Australia but tougher sentences don't stop crimes. A crazy idiot who plans to murder his wife because he suspects she's was having an affair doesn't stop and consider the current sentencing policy.
Here we had the penalties for some crimes actually legislated... ie judges lost their discretionary powers and HAD to put kids away if they committed a petty crime 3 times. So even if the judge though the kids didn't deserve jail time they HAD to give it... called the three strike rule. Failure! Kids that would have normally gone straight after their home life was sorted were sent to prisons where they were brutalised, victimised and learnt how to start their criminal careers from the experts. The policy has since been dropped. Tougher sentences didn't dissuade them and tougher sentences seems to me like a easy answer for people who couldn't be bothered trying to work out why some kids get so broken that they'd do something like that.
Anyway my point was there's something about a mob.. the "mob mentality" that once you join you leave your brains at the door...." rah rah rah". So if these kids were a little more self confidant and didn't feel they were on the outer all the time then they'd feel less need to join a gang and have their thinking done for them. I get where your coming from and I'm not trying to be an apologist for them but just trying to work out how it could have got to that. For some people this is an easy question... they answer it with " because they are evil and need fixing... rah rah rah" ... but that seems way too simplistic.