Yeah, we really stopped him

[Rawedge Rim]

For those who believe that life in prison is sufficeint to stop folks from again.


www.local6.com/news/16714585/detail.html

On-Duty Corrections Officer Killed
39-Year-Old Inmate Suspected In


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A female corrections officer was d and killed at the Tomoka Correctional Institution, The Associated Press reported.

Enoch Hall, 39, who is serving two life sentences for and kidnapping, is suspected of veteran corrections officer Donna Fitzgerald while she was on duty Wednesday night.

Fitzgerald, who was 50 years old and lived in Port Orange, had worked at the prison for 13 years.



Not just one life sentence, but two, and he still manages to and kill someone. Please tell me how the Penalty would be travesty of justice here?

[High Lord Tolkien]

It's mean spirited?

[Cail]

I've never understood the concept of multiple life sentences. You might as well say, "kill him a lot". His original crime didn't meet the standard of capital punishment. This one, I believe, does.

[The Dreaming]

I am kind of wondering how this happened. Surely someone was neglectful to allow an inmate to rape and murder a guard and not be seen doing it.

[Zahir]

Not just one life sentence, but two, and he still manages to and kill someone. Please tell me how the Penalty would be travesty of justice here?

Well, for one thing the person is question was not convicted of murder. According to the article, this man had never committed murder before. Are we supposed to execute people who might commit murder now?

And if we have--without any possibility of doubt--executed people for murder who in fact were innocent, then what happens if we start executing people for lesser crimes?

[Rawedge Rim]

Not just one life sentence, but two, and he still manages to and kill someone. Please tell me how the Penalty would be travesty of justice here?

Well, for one thing the person is question was not convicted of murder. According to the article, this man had never committed murder before. Are we supposed to execute people who might commit murder now?

And if we have--without any possibility of doubt--executed people for murder who in fact were innocent, then what happens if we start executing people for lesser crimes?

Point is that once someone is in the system for multiple lifes, and execution is off the table, what are you gonna do to someone like this, give them "another life sentence" just in case he manages to serve the first two?

How about "Stop, or we'll say "Stop" again"

[sgt.null]

I am kind of wondering how this happened. Surely someone was neglectful to allow an inmate to rape and murder a guard and not be seen doing it.

the inmates always outnumber us. they have 24 hours a day to plan things. we run short handed all the time. we have old, outdated prisons. they are evil.

[Plissken]

Thank god we privatized the Prison System.

[Zahir]

Not just one life sentence, but two, and he still manages to and kill someone. Please tell me how the Penalty would be travesty of justice here?

Well, for one thing the person is question was not convicted of murder. According to the article, this man had never committed murder before. Are we supposed to execute people who might commit murder now?

And if we have--without any possibility of doubt--executed people for murder who in fact were innocent, then what happens if we start executing people for lesser crimes?

Point is that once someone is in the system for multiple lifes, and execution is off the table, what are you gonna do to someone like this, give them "another life sentence" just in case he manages to serve the first two?

How about "Stop, or we'll say "Stop" again"

It seems to me very likely that some kind of change in prison procedures is called for, perhaps on a very fundamental level. I am not well-read on the subject, but one possible answer might lie in the direction of reducing the number of persons in jail for non-violent offenses and/or focusing on treatment for those convicted of crimes related to psychological conditions, such as addiction. But this is only a general, not a specific, suggestion.

It does seem also to me that the problem here lies not with whether or not someone is executed, or whether they are in prison, but rather under what conditions they are incarcerated. Clearly, this man had an opportunity to commit his crime while in prison. That is what must be addressed more than anything else, IMHO, the opportunity.

[sgt.null]

zahir - money. new prisons. better payed staff. segregation of criminals according to level of crime.

[Plissken]

Of course, that would mean not running them for a profit...

[Rawedge Rim]

Of course, that would mean not running them for a profit...

Do you know that inmates are required to be given so much square footage for living space, they are required to be afforded the opportunity to exercise. They must be given medical care for any ailments that they have. If inmate Joe Killer needs a liver transplant, it doesn't matter if he's serving 27 life sentences for murder, he's entitled to a liver. I could go on and on.

[aTOMiC]

I'm left wondering if the inmate in question believed or believes that he is free to commit whatever crimes that present themselves because the system can not punish him any further than what has already been handed down. If this scenario seems valid then anyone who has been sentenced in this way might feel similarly. Frightening thought for those like Null who work within the walls of prisons that contain such criminals. In any case what happened to this woman is unforgivable.

[aliantha]

segregation of criminals according to level of crime.

This, in particular, seems like a no-brainer. Sarge, do you know whether guards who work with particularly heinous individuals (death row inmates, say) get paid more? Just curious.

Don't get me started on things that work soooo much better, now that we've privatized them....

[Holsety]

Well, I know that when it comes to the fearsome "Supermax" units, the list of potential candidates includes terrorists, gang members, and of course prisoners who have committed crimes in "lower level" facilities. Whether the supermax has proved an absolute, or close to absolute, barrier to inmates in assaulting security guards or each other, I'm not sure. And of course, another question is whether the "rehabilitation" high security facilities provide tends to leave the inmates worse when they get out.

[Avatar]

Agree with Cail and Zahir that we can't do anything on the basis of "might". He was not a murderer, therefore could not be treated like one. Now he is, and can be.

And agree with the idea of segregation...never fails to amaze me that potheads and fraudsters are jailed alongside murders, etc.

--A

[Rawedge Rim]

Agree with Cail and Zahir that we can't do anything on the basis of "might". He was not a murderer, therefore could not be treated like one. Now he is, and can be.

And agree with the idea of segregation...never fails to amaze me that potheads and fraudsters are jailed alongside murders, etc.

--A

My point was for those who oppose the death penalty regardless, who feel that "life" in prison is sufficeint to ensure that a felon will not be a danger anymore.

Well, this person had not one, but two life sentences, and he managed to be a danger. There are many others within the prison system who have multiple life sentences, and who have killed while behind bars.

What do you do about them? Give them a harsh lecture about how they might get into more trouble? Maybe we ought to tack on "another" life sentence?

I'm perfectly aware that the original article I started this subject on did not have murder in his history. That was not really the point. My whole point is "once you take execution off the table, what's left to use against someone who is already serving life?"

[Prebe]

The hole

[The Dreaming]

I am a strong opponent of capitol punishment, but I DO believe we could stand to bring back some good ol' corporal punishment. Why not 100 lashes and a week in the stocks in the prison courtyard?

You could even run it like a boot camp. Whenever an inmate does something like this, punish the whole prison. THATS something that will make an inmate afraid.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I agree Dreaming. However there are way too many people who will cry about that being cruel and unjust and that prisoners need love and understanding and so forth and so on. Who cares about the victims and the loved ones of the victims or what they suffered at the hands of the criminals...