Martha Stewart is Doing Fine

[livius drusus]

Those are great ideas, Shea. Seriously.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Those are great ideas, Shea. Seriously.

Thanks. I just think it's silly to PAY for her to be incarcerated, when she could be paying back society. I think we should look at these kinds of alternatives for all white collar crime, truth be told. You defrauded shareholders with creative accounting? Great, you get to pay it all back in fines AND do bookkeeping for a not for profit for a couple of years.

[livius drusus]

I agree. I think compensatory justice is sorely underutilized, not just in white collar crimes either. Politicians love retributive justice because it makes them look hard (which we all know is directly proportional to penis size), but in terms of social value, there is a great deal to be said for working out punishment based on a stardard of fair compensation for injury.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

I agree. I think compensatory justice is sorely underutilized, not just in white collar crimes either. Politicians love retributive justice because it makes them look hard (which we all know is directly proportional to penis size), but in terms of social value, there is a great deal to be said for working out punishment based on a stardard of fair compensation for injury.

I think violent criminals need to be housed AWAY from society...but you're right, even they could be doing something of value. I'll bet we could come up with a bunch of things that would reduce the cost of the corrections system, possibly educate/enrich or at the very least occupy the offender in some way, and benefit the community in some substanttial way (we only need so many people picking up trash....I wish our judges were more creative)

White collar criminals just seem the easiest to start with because they have skills that can be utilized. They used them for evil, now force them to use them for good

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

I think violent criminals need to be housed AWAY from society...

I think it depends on the circumstances, but generally speaking I agree. Still, prison and compensation are not mutually exclusive nomatter what the crime.

...but you're right, even they could be doing something of value. I'll bet we could come up with a bunch of things that would reduce the cost of the corrections system, possibly educate/enrich or at the very least occupy the offender in some way, and benefit the community in some substanttial way (we only need so many people picking up trash....I wish our judges were more creative)

Not only benefit the community, but also directly compensate the victims and their families. Victims are accustomed to thinking of prison and its attendant violence (rape, beatings, "the hole") as their sole avenue for justice. The most say they get is a victim impact statement at sentencing, which is basically a chance to vent.

Meanwhile, think of all the victims even of the most vicious, monstruous crimes, who turn the horror of their experience into something positive: volunteering, fund-raising, founding charity organizations, lobbying congress, America's Most Wanted, etc. Why not make the people who actually committed the crime give something concrete back?

White collar criminals just seem the easiest to start with because they have skills that can be utilized. They used them for evil, now force them to use them for good

He he... Works for me.

[LadyShea]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

I think it depends on the circumstances, but generally speaking I agree. Still, prison and compensation are not mutually exclusive nomatter what the crime.

Not only benefit the community, but also directly compensate the victims and their families. Victims are accustomed to thinking of prison and its attendant violence (rape, beatings, "the hole") as their sole avenue for justice. The most say they get is a victim impact statement at sentencing, which is basically a chance to vent.

Meanwhile, think of all the victims even of the most vicious, monstruous crimes, who turn the horror of their experience into something positive: volunteering, fund-raising, founding charity organizations, lobbying congress, America's Most Wanted, etc. Why not make the people who actually committed the crime give something concrete back?

Excellent ideas, you should go to law school and run for office. Really just imagine what all could be done....kind of mind blowing.

[Godless Dave]

I'm not sure about her situation, but she may well have to finance her own prison stay. Many states charge prisoners for their incarceration, but in most cases can't collect because, as vm pointed out, most people imprisoned for crimes are dirt poor.