The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that locking away a teenage for the rest of his/her life with no chance of getting out was perhaps "cruel and unusual punishment". (NYTimes opinion page). Lordy Lordy.
It just may be that someday the United States, in a moment of self reflection, will realize that we are the world's high crime society with no constructive thoughts on how to combat the problem other than prisons. 1% of this population wakes up in jail every day. I live in a village of 1600. Just for perspective, the odds in my village are 16 of its citizens are in jail on every and any given day.
I'm not for coddling criminals. They can get 100% of Goldman Sachs for all I care. But we can't be so sanctimonious about ourselves.
It says volumes that we locked up teenages for life .. just put them in a black hole and tossed away the key .. AND then by a slim, partyline majority of our wisest men and women thought it to be a little too harsh.
It just may be that someday the United States, in a moment of self reflection, will realize that we are the world's high crime society with no constructive thoughts on how to combat the problem other than prisons. 1% of this population wakes up in jail every day. I live in a village of 1600. Just for perspective, the odds in my village are 16 of its citizens are in jail on every and any given day.
I'm not for coddling criminals. They can get 100% of Goldman Sachs for all I care. But we can't be so sanctimonious about ourselves.
It says volumes that we locked up teenages for life .. just put them in a black hole and tossed away the key .. AND then by a slim, partyline majority of our wisest men and women thought it to be a little too harsh.