Here's a new one I haven't seen before:

[conuly]

Scrap goat for "scapegoat".

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L.A. County jail inmates were handcuffed to a wall for hours on 'potty watch'

At 16, Taurus Buchanan threw one deadly punch—and was sent away for life. Will the Supreme Court give him, and hundreds like him, a chance at freedom?

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Comments

[conuly]

Prisons should be for keeping dangerous people where they can't harm others; it's not for their benefit that they're sent there.

I disagree. I think it's to society's benefit if we get those people functioning and back in the world.

However, for those who want to concern themselves with this issue, there are 3,278 people serving life sentences without parole for non-violent offenses, and I'd say their cases merit more attention than that of Taurus Buchanen.

I think I can manage to spare attention for both issues, and also the issue of my cat licking my face with stinky breath.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

"I disagree. I think it's to society's benefit if we get those people functioning and back in the world."

I didn't say it's not to society's benefit if people rehabilitate themselves, and leave prison to lead law-abiding lives. Obviously, when people do that, it's to their own benefit as well. But, equally obviously, people are not sent to prison "for their own good", because if they agreed it was for their good, the doors wouldn't need locks.

The idea that 'these people' are not functioning begs the question of what 'functionality' looks like in the world to which they're to be sent back. Sounds like Taurus Buchanen was functioning just fine in his world, till he was unlucky enough to commit murder when he only intended assault and battery.

Did you ever read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, or see the movie? (The book is better, of course.) Alex, the protagonist, is happily and successfully well-adjusted to his ultraviolent world, till he's unlucky enough to commit murder in the course of assault. The attempt to get him 'functioning' and back in the world doesn't go so well, because the world is the same one he left, only now he's prey rather than predator.

There's only so much damn a person can give, and I haven't got any to spare for bullies who beat children to death. Perhaps Taurus Buchanen's life sentence will serve as a cautionary tale to other teens: sucker-punch someone, and you might grow old behind bars, because "I didn't mean to kill him" is not a valid excuse.