Melissa Todorovic was sentenced as an adult for her role in the Rengel murder. The sentencing wasn't a great surprise but what did surprise me was the reaction and media response.
Apart from a rather vague comment in the Globe that the murder was 'evil' (more below) most comments focussed on a medical issue -- can Todorovic be treated so that she can be a lawful productive adult? And if she cannot be made safe how can she be separated from society?
How odd.
The comments do not hint at successful deterrence, either specific or general, nor do they really suggest punishment as a goal of sentencing.
Implicitly people seem to be realising prison as warning to others is a failure. And punishment, while gratifying to victims (and that has value), does precious little for society.
Prison is seen as a place to re-educate the offender or, if incorrigible, to keep the offender separated from society.
That's exactly what I say prison should do -- and if reorganised it might work. Set up properly prisons might rehabilitate and if that failed separate convicts. Now Todorovic, as a youth, may well get proper treatment but she's a special case.
A word on 'evil'.
Despite some readers' comments, I believe evil exists. There are wicked and evil acts. Evil exists in all people -- some act on it and others don't. And it's that differential that makes me believe (hope?) that evil can be controlled and convicts rehabilitated. Sinners can find salvation; and salvation from outside themselves. Yes, some are too far gone in madness or wickedness or both and those people must be separated from society. But most can be saved.
I'm not sure if this is a liberal or conservative position but I believe it to be true.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
8 comments:
For what it's worth, I agree with you, and I'm supposed to be hard Left.
I was particularly impressed by the statements made by the victim's young brother saying precisely that: that the family hopes some good can come out of this and that MT can get the help she needs.
Wow.
So why is it so often the folks screaming for blood and vengeance who call themselves Christian?
If Paul Bernardo being in jail is keeping Canadians safe, then your theory is dead wrong.
Literally.
If you're going to argue prison don't work, then you would have to release Paul Bernardo.
If your not willing to do that, then you have to give your head a shake.
You have managed to touch on the main reason, in my opinion, for prison - to keep people seperated from society for the protection of society at large. Since the vast majority of prisoners are let out of prison at some point, a vigorous rehabilitation program had better be in effect to bring the number of repeat offenders to an absolute minimum. Actually that brings up another point - is it actually possible to spend the rest of your life in a Canadian prison?
The real sticking point appears in two situations:
1. Someone is due to be released but it is clear to all that the person is not rehabilitated and the chance of reoffending is high. There is currently no mechanism for keeping this person in prison. The "Dangerous Offender" designation is too difficult to apply.
2. What to do about serial reoffenders. Obviously the rehabilitation hasn't "taken", so what to do?
One possible way is to make every prison sentence a life sentence and use parole opportunities to regulate the length of the sentence. That way any offender who is deemed to still be a risk can be kept in prison.
For example, someone can be sent to prison and their first parole opportunity is in 3 years. Someone convicted of a more serious crime could have their first parole opportunity at 15 years. The advantage to this is that people can be kept seperate from society until we are sure that they are actually rehabilitated.
However such a system would be a radical departure from the current way of doing things and would probably need more/bigger prisons.
"For what it's worth, I agree with you, and I'm supposed to be hard Left."
I can think of no greater indictment of a position than an endorsement from an individual as nasty, mean spirited, vicious, angry, and hateful as Dr. Dawg.
Personal attack? Relax, folks, he considers it a compliment, trust me.
"vengeance who call themselves Christian?"
I dunno, why are leftists such as you and Dr. Dawg such hateful, angry, vicious, nasty, mean spirited creatures?
The idea that it is wrong to punish evil does have some support in Canada of 2009, I concede, but that is about the only place where it enjoys support. In virtually any other time or place (save the Christian canon that you loathe so much, oddly) you people would be considered mentally ill, evil, and a threat to society.
Your brand spanking new untested idea has scarcely been tested for three decades in a relatively small country; in that three decades the violent crime rate has tripled, to name one measure of failure.
Technology can save us. With pervasive surveillance - implanted audio and video sensors and GPS enabled chips in every citizen we can virtually eliminate crime, an incalculable benefit. The cost? Lack of privacy. Benefit > cost, no contest.
You people advocate unaccountability, no meaningful consequences for actions. Unaccountability equals power, the ability to act however one wishes without any consequences.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Show me an unaccountable individual and I will in nearly every instance show you a corrupted - no, evil - individual.
Checkmate.
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