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California's revolving door
The LA Times notes that, due to prison overcrowding, California is giving early release even to violent inmates. It cites the case of a gang-banger who committed a murder, was then caught with drugs and a sawed-off shotgun, and served six days. A few meditations in extended remarks below.
Why would gun control and revolving door justice be associated, as they so often are? I may have a possible explanation....
I'm working on a book manuscript, which will suggest that political views are fundamentally driven by emotion rather than cold logic. The essence of modern liberalism is that judgment ("judgmentalism") is bad, exclusive, discriminatory. Above all else, one should not reach judgments of good and evil as to other persons, cultures, etc.
But within that view, how does one explain crime? You're not allowed to think "some people are evil" -- how do you explain that people go in for murder, rape, robbery, theft? The one way seems to be to treat it as victimhood of the criminal. Because of poverty, frustration, upbringing, whatever, what would be a decent person (can't judge him otherwise, remember) has been turned into a criminal.
Gun control: (1) if we could just keep him from getting a gun, he would be more likely to become decent; (2) if one of his victims were armed, they might shoot him (which is as judgmental as it gets!) (3) gun owners are ... they don't understand the above, they are inclined to be judgmental, which is the one sin, and so doing things to them is a matter of little consequence.
Comments
If I got caught with a 17 inch barreled shotgun, could I serve 6 days too? Actually, for not murdering anyone or possessing narcotics, could I get ice cream during my week in prison? You know, for good behavior?
Posted by: beerslurpy at May 14, 2006 11:53 AM
Well, the case it describes is a bit different. The guy didn't serve 6 days for murdering someone; the guy was released into a work program after serving 6 days of his sentence for a weapons violation.
It's a sloppily-written article.
Posted by: Phanatic at May 14, 2006 03:08 PM
My comment was also sloppily written. I would expect that if I had a sawn off shotgun, the ATF would throw the book at me and I would be lucky to get 6 years, let alone 6 days.
It sort of reminds me how the prole street criminals and the Outer Party thought criminals were treated in 1984- the street thugs were generally given slaps on the wrist and treated by the police like friends or coworkers, while the thought criminals were treated like the scum of the earth.
Posted by: beerslurpy at May 14, 2006 05:10 PM
One needn't even look to fiction to see this type of behavior on the part of the state. Political prisoners in the Soviet Gulag were treated as the scum of the earth, often left to the mercies of the actual criminal element.
Gun owners, the American political prisoners.
Posted by: Paul at May 15, 2006 12:32 AM
Did you really call him a "gang-banger"?
Posted by: anonymousse at May 15, 2006 05:12 AM