European Tribune - Mother's Day American Style
When released, the mothers who have been convicted of drug offenses will be ineligible for food stamps and other public assistance, including public housing.
Argh! It's that right wing, punish the immoral mentality. To it's extreme. The idea is that when you serve a prison sentence, you are being punished for your crime. When released, that punishment should be over.
Who does it help to refuse public assistance after release? It's a bigger cost for the state when people are left with no alternative but to resort to crime again to get hold of food for their children, clothes, anything to make life liveable. Talk about taking opportunities right out of children's hands, perpetuating the cycle of poverty of crime.
Stupid policy makers. Stupid, stupid. Ad astra per aspera
There are many examples of this punishment for life mentality in American laws. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
You could probably argue that point for any other offender also. I'm still in two minds about public registers of sex offenders because it can lead to people being victimised on an horrific level when they actually are no longer a risk or the level of offence that put them on the register does not necessarily equate to paedophilia (or they happen to have the same name as someone on the register, or were falsely accused). I don't know what criteria put people on the register, is it any sex offence and aren't people removed after a certain length of time for some offences? Can the public find out what the offence was?
What does the public gain from having access to that information? Will they stop their children from going out, take alternative routes to the shops, scream blue murder about it at neighbourhood watch meetings?
I can see the case for an awareness of friends/family members being on the register since most attacks are committed by people known to the victim.
Should people not exercise some degree of caution about their personal safety anyway? Could knowing that Mr X in number 32 is on the register provide a false sense of 'security' that if he is avoided/intimidated then we'll all be fine? Or will they actually be safer for knowing? Can such things as random attacks from being in the wrong place at the wrong time be avoided? Ad astra per aspera
There are apparently registers for sex offenders where I live (Virginia) and the State makes some of that information available to the public. One of my friends and a neighbor, with small children, looked up and found that one of our close neighbors was a registered offender (pedophile). This was information she considered important to know but I don't beleive she had any intention to harass the individual in any way.
Frankly, I don't consider any neighborhood in the US safe for small children anymore, and watching how parents guard their children, it would appear that my views are shared by many. So, knowing where pedophiles live is not really the answer. Eternal vigilance may be the price of liberty, but it also pays to keep a very close watch on your children no matter where you live. A sad commentary on modern society regardless. I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
Reminds me of Sarkozy who pulled cops out of the projects after the 2005 riots. Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
He did this with a elaborate set up : when visiting a group of such policemen in Toulouse, one of his advisors asked them to talk about a rugby game they had played against kids from the 'hood ; a minor point, not the thing the cops wanted to put forward. When the policemen talked about it, as they had been told, Sarkozy ripped into them, saying it wasn't the police's job to play games with the youth, and went on to destroy the program.
Of course, the right wing governments keep on cutting the funds of the people whose job it is to play games with the youth and organise activities. Repression is much better than prevention for these politicians, as it happens after the crime, and thus allows to frighten people.
Yet another example being that it is getting harder to get parole, despite the fact that parole greatly reduces the risk of recidivism. Thankfully, such laws as "Three strikes and you're out" are unconstitutional in France, and the French justice system does partly cares about the felon's rights, meaning that the similar "peines planchers" law is resisted a bit. Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
disgusting.
your story exemplifies your sig to a T The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
two most recent, grotesque examples: allemano in rome and boris in london The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
