Hadron Quark wrote:
"Bob" writes:

Hadron Quark wrote:

With that attitude noone would ever be released. The asshole who hit Ken
got 20 years : this is not a lenient sentence. In fact you could say it
was far too long for what could be described as "an alcohol induced accident".

If he can succeed in rehab then maybe, just maybe this young man can
serve a useful role in society once again.

Really? That he had posted bail on a previous DUI just hours before
driving drunk again and then after going to prison decided to risk
literally years of his life so he could get high doesn't bode well for
his successful rehabilitation.

Agreed : but if he does/can then all the better.


It's easy enough to say, "if he can succeed in rehab then maybe, just
maybe...", but all indications are that he won't succeed. Punishment
for the damage he's already done aside, it's an issue of probability
versus possibilty. The probability he would repeat his past behavior
outweighs the apparently remote possibility that he can be
rehabilitated.

BTW, the "young man" in question is 31 years old. At what age do we
stop excusing intentional criminal acts as "errors of youth"?

Who said it was an error of youth?

You seemed to be implying just that when you described a 31 year old
habitual drunk driver and drug user as a, "... young man (that) can
serve a useful role in society...".

He certainly deserves punishment :
but to lock away the key is extreme and certainly not how any developed
society or legal system should handle it.


It's not backward for a society to say in effect, "Enough is enough.
You knew the rules and the penalties for breaking them. You broke those
rules and we gave you a second chance. You apparently still haven't
learned to live by the rules so we're going to banish you from our
society until you do learn". It's also not a sign of sophistication for
a society to say, "Here are the rules and the penalties for breaking
them but if you break them, don't worry. We'll give you second, third,
and fourth chances if necessary. We won't ever actually impose the
penalties prescribed because that wouldn't be the mark of a developed
society."

Regards,
Bob Hunt