Consecutive sentencing doesn’t necessarily imply that a higher priority is being placed on punishment. It just means a priority has been placed on ensuring criminals are accountable for each of their crimes.
What happens if someone is sentenced to, say, 5 years for robbery, and while he’s in the authorities determine that he murdered someone? He’d end up serving 5 years for the robbery and then 21 years plus for the murder; a guy who was convicted of robbery and murder at the same time would serve only 21 years.
It’s the family’s option whether to attend or not an execution, of course. Personally, I’m not casting any stones on them because I haven’t walked in their shoes. But I do appreciate, and applaud, the fact that in the United States, we recognize each victim as being a separate and valued individual. Lumping all the victims together diminishes and marginalizes them, IMO. Killing one person is bad enough. Killing 77 is a new level of horrible, which is why this story has reached an international audience.
I think a penalty system should definitely rehabilitate, where it is reasonable to believe that such a thing is possible. However, I think we ought to take our Mary Poppins’ glasses off when dealing with serial killers and genocidal maniacs. There’s no rehabilitating someone who is void of empathy. And I also recognize that the very reason we have a justice system in the first place is to recognize, and yes, mete out PUNISHMENT, when an offender causes pain to another human being.
Wouldn’t such a system create a situation where, once one has committed a crime, there’s literally no disincentive at all to commit any number of lesser crimes? If’ I’ll get 21 years for one murder, and 21 years for one murder, 64 rapes, 16 robberies, and jaywalking, well, I’m already facing the 21, why not go hog wild?
Hey, is Norway vegan? I mean, as long as it’s not about how deserving or not deserving the bad guy is, but only that the act of killing itself makes Norwegians monsters, are you guys eschewing all killing? Or are you still “assigning different rights to live” as long as the victims in question can’t speak up in their own defense?
If you mean sentences in the US, then not necessarily; they can run concurrently or consecutively. It’s up to the judge’s discretion, mitigating circumstances, plea deals and/or applicable sentencing guidelines. I don’t really see the point of concurrent sentencing, except that it lets society tell each victim that they got justice.
You get sentencing for each of them, but since they don’t get tacked one after the other, you fulfill the longest one (in this example, the murder). You could still be pardoned for the murder and need to fulfill the longest one of the still-standing sentencies.
'cause the sort of psycho who’d reason that way (a) is extremely rare and (b) would not be dissuaded by electrocution while hanging in front of a firing squad at the end of each of 1451 consecutive life terms.
Jesus on rollerskates, people… So Norway does not subscribe to vindictive penal theory. That’s a perfectly cromulent policy decision. Live with it.
Oh, you really got me there. I guess since we’re so speciest that we - uh - murder animals for food, we might as well abandon a penal system that gives us one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world and take up public executions, inhumane treatment of suspects and building us some dungeons.
Yes. We’re fine with killing anything that can’t speak up for itself. Animals. Deaf-mutes. Foreigners, unless they speak Norwegian. Babies. Mime artists. People who use txtspk. We have a sliding scale. Why, how does it work in America? Do you only kill animals that are convicted of serious crimes? Do the states with no death penalty for humans not kill animals?
However, we reserve our dungeons and execution by public drawing and quartering for the txtspk’ers. They deserve any inhumane treatment you can think of.
“For one murder you will get 21 years. That might not sound like much. But wait, there’s more! We’ll also include 64 rapes, 16 robberies, and jaywalking. That’s one murder, 64 rapes, 16 robberies, and jaywalking for only 21 years.”
Actually, one murder might get you 21 years in prison.
One murder plus more may well land you 21 years of detention. And that means 21 years before you get your first hearing, and if they think you’re still dangerous, 5 more years, then repeat for as long as it takes. Also, you’ll end up serving at Ila instead of a normal prison, also probably for good.
