It would be nice to see a cite for the assertions made in the OP.
But, assuming they are true, is it possible to think that the sentences are too harsh and to also NOT think that “the rioters are the only decent people in this situation”?
Yeah. He’s a fuckin’ riot.
Get to fuck, you piece of shit. These sentences are frankly lenient - they need to be punished not just for the thefts, for which the sentences you mention are perfectly fine, but also for the harm and fear they caused their communities. These people are not petty criminals, and certainly not “decent people” forced to steal to survive. They are utter cunting scum, and an example needs to be made of them. They are the gang of cunts, not the police who risked their health, and possibly lives, to protect us from them.
Not that all police, or all judges, are necessarily great, but all but the very worst of them are better than the rioting chav arseholes.
Or they can stop fucking rioting?
Are you high?
Ah, they don’t know what repressive is. In the Paris riots of 1968, so it is said, when the police took down a male rioter they would spread-eagle him on the pavement and pulp his balls with a nightstick. If they took down a female rioter, she’d be taken to the station and gang-raped. Sometimes they used a nightstick for that too.
But De Gaulle got the riots under controll and was declared a hero.
A first-time offender getting six months for stealing a case of bottled water is nonsense. The punishment isn’t even remotely proportional to the crime. Stealing a case of water is like… a scolding and light community service. Justifying the harshiness of the sentence by saying at the same time other people were burning cars (or whatever) is moronic. Buddy isn’t responsible for the actions of others.
Except when that crime is part and parcel of a deliberate disruption of civilization.
Had there not been rioting, chaos, and imminent danger to civilians and property, that asshole never would have had the balls to steal anything. Seriously, what kind of mental derangement does it take to watch the equivalent of a localized war break out in your neighborhood and think “finally, I can steal some shit!”
Presumably the exact same reasoning as why so many college-aged people pirate TV shows and music: almost no chance of being caught and essentially no harm.
And undoubtedly, mein doppelgänger, whether or not the student had stolen the water is absolutely inconsequential to the public’s perception of the riot.
Riot to bring about change!
The result, 1,700(new record?) and climbing arrested. Talk about fucking Karma lol.
Aesop had a fable about a farmer who put up nets to trap the crows that had been eating his crops. When he inspected his nets later, he found a stork trapped in them along with a whole bunch of crows. The stork pleaded for release on the grounds that it never ate the farmer’s crops but was only socializing with the crows that were its friends. So the farmer said “[del]Holy fuck, a talking stork![/del] If you hang around with wrongdoers, you get treated like them”.
Good fucking, I’m US Old School from 68, but even I thought the British/French “Rioter for his own sake” was counter-revolutionary to The Cause. We fought for Justice. I have no fucking idea what they are fighting for. They seem to be damaging shit because their grandparents did.
I dunno, 6 months in prison for stealing five bucks of bottled water seems disproportionate to me: but then again, I’m against debtor’s prison as well. That said, I don’t think it was quite sporting of the rioters to burn shops and homes: it’s a wee bit excessive, eh mate?
Relevant article: How Riots Start, and How They Can Be Stopped by Edward Glaeser. Short story: the lit on starting riots is a little woolly, but there’s talk of tipping points and the like.[1] The lit on ending riots is clearer. Pack the streets with cops, arrest everyone and release them shortly. There are variants on these themes though, so read the article. It’s not long.
[1] Glaeser ignores the work showing a relationship between mayhem and budget cuts. This is unsurprising as it was only published this month. Home | CEPR
Yes, those decent, classy rioters.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/assets_c/2011/08/B4GsX-thumb-550x574.jpg
Color me confused. Does the British judicial system work so fast that the rioters have already been sentenced, or is the news media reporting, as they do in the US, the maximum possible sentences?
I’m going to assume the later for now, and I would be very surprised if the water thief gets much more than the US equivalent of ‘time served’ when actually sentenced.
Oh, and the opening post is idiotic, and as I only know the OP from 2 posts on the riot, I’m going to go that the idiotic post is being made by an idiot.
ETA: Nice to see the British educational system rivaling our very best and brightest (from Smeghead’s link).
In this case, yes. They set up emergency courts to fast track prosecutions as a deterrent to further riots. The idea is pretty reasonable - very public evidence that if you riot there is a high chance of a heavy sentence, no exceptions.
Obvious troll is obvious. And possibly a Commisar sock. Same style.
Thank you. Makes sense. Now you can color me informed. 
Well, the riots started when the police shot a man dead, then beat up a 16 year old girl in front of a crowd of peaceful demonstrators for demanding answers of the police.
These aren’t arsonists. There are people being banged up for cheeking the police or stealing less than five pounds of stuff.
I certainly don’t see anything wrong with badmouthing the police, and even a bit of minor shoplifting doesn’t greatly bother me. It’s not indecent, anyway, which is more than can be said for the conduct of the police, or the media, or the government, during this situation.
How many people put in prison for speaking out of turn to a policeman will magically fix it all? How many months in prison for an act of theft that normally wouldn’t even get you a slap on the wrist will put humpty dumpty together again?
Well, foreigners tend to be more servile and wedded to repressive modes of government. England has a tradition of liberty in which juries traditionally take the place of genital-bashing government thugs. I suppose some people just don’t like that, due to their hatred of freedom.
In this case the rioters are being tried without juries, no doubt why the student only got six months as that’s the longest sentence that can be issued by a magistrate without a jury. They’re just shoving people through like a conveyor belt.
Yeah, standing around in riot gear watching looters do whatever they liked must have been really taxing. Hot day, probably started sweating and everything. Medals all around!
Won’t work. There’s currently a council being sued in California for fucking around with Twitter, the government would have to be idiots to try to censor the interwebs. Of course they are, but I still think it’s all talk.
I suppose “reasonable” is the same as “fetishising the strong arm of the state”. Or, judging by your post, punishing people for crimes other people committed
These are magistrates courts in special sittings, specially set up so they don’t need to wait or to consider any real evidence or to offer proper legal representation, and especially so they don’t need ot bother with juries. Anyone who committed a more serious offence will therefore not be tried because they will need to wait for a jury trial, this is just a way for the state to lash out at thoe arrested for minor offences.
Yes, but none of those have come to trial yet, and won’t for quite a while if they’re to be tried for anything serious.
I would suggest that publicly shooting family-men and beating teenage girls in front of crowds of peaceful demonstrators might constitute a prime example of how to start a riot.
Sounds like you were watching some hardcore porn, otherwise I’d ask you for cites.
BTW, De Gaulle didnt really “get the riots under control”, if anybody did it it was his Prime Minister Pompidou. And De Gaulle’s aura was smashed with the “Mai 68” events. He resigned one year later, and died a few months later. Not a very dignified ending.