Yes, I don't think anyone would argue that the children need to be protected.
In the US, though, similar cases resulted in even more draconian penalties and surveillance for convicted abusers even if there was little risk they would re-offend, to the point that some law enforcement are speaking out and saying "hey, all these laws are making it HARDER for us to keep track of these people and making it MORE likely they will re-offend", which, in the current political climate that all abusers should be shot and burned, is really taking a risk.
It was just a good, here-and-now illustration of the mentality that would literally strip away the humanity from a specific group of people and how it gets justified.
As long as it's considered okay to strip away someone's humanity and right to exist for any reason, I think, we run the risk of another Holocaust because the real necessary ingredient is the mentality that some people don't deserve to live and the mental arrogance that lets us think we can decide that.
In the end, here in Belgium things are changing too, there is no cry for the death penalty, but because in the last ten years it happened often that convicted murderers or abusers got free and committed another crime.
It was usual practice that most people got released from prison when 1 third of the time was reached, which meant that for a life sentence, it meant 14 years in prison. It changed last year, the one third time isn't automatically given anymore and victims (or family) have to give "advice".
It does affect my emotions too. Today there was such a story, a young child dies in traffic and the parents go at night to the place, because at daytime there were too many people, laying flowers, and they wanted time alone with their daughter.
They are at the place of the accident in the middle of the night and a car passes at high speed. The father is upset and shouts, the car stops, the man steps out goes to the father and slit his throat. The father barely survived.
The attacker was a convicted murder, got life sentence for torturing and murdering someone but was released a few years ago, after having being in prison for 14 years.
I'm not emotionless about that - it made me angry - but I'm glad I am not the one who has to judge.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 07:51 pm (UTC)In the US, though, similar cases resulted in even more draconian penalties and surveillance for convicted abusers even if there was little risk they would re-offend, to the point that some law enforcement are speaking out and saying "hey, all these laws are making it HARDER for us to keep track of these people and making it MORE likely they will re-offend", which, in the current political climate that all abusers should be shot and burned, is really taking a risk.
It was just a good, here-and-now illustration of the mentality that would literally strip away the humanity from a specific group of people and how it gets justified.
As long as it's considered okay to strip away someone's humanity and right to exist for any reason, I think, we run the risk of another Holocaust because the real necessary ingredient is the mentality that some people don't deserve to live and the mental arrogance that lets us think we can decide that.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-21 09:37 pm (UTC)It was usual practice that most people got released from prison when 1 third of the time was reached, which meant that for a life sentence, it meant 14 years in prison. It changed last year, the one third time isn't automatically given anymore and victims (or family) have to give "advice".
It does affect my emotions too. Today there was such a story, a young child dies in traffic and the parents go at night to the place, because at daytime there were too many people, laying flowers, and they wanted time alone with their daughter.
They are at the place of the accident in the middle of the night and a car passes at high speed. The father is upset and shouts, the car stops, the man steps out goes to the father and slit his throat. The father barely survived.
The attacker was a convicted murder, got life sentence for torturing and murdering someone but was released a few years ago, after having being in prison for 14 years.
I'm not emotionless about that - it made me angry - but I'm glad I am not the one who has to judge.