🚀 go-pugleaf

weiser@dimensional.com (Scott Weiser) wrote:
>On Fri, 03 Jul 1998 15:34:51 GMT, Gumbyy@ticnet.com (Marc) wrote:

>>Every deliberate violation of a law should result in jail?  Even for
>>illegal parking?

>No, just for speeding and perhaps some other deliberate violations.

Failing to use a signal?  Rolling through a stop sign at 2 mph?

>>Why should the imcompetent not be held to the same standards?

>Because they are....incompetent....

And they get to do the same things and not be punished?  I'll have to
become incompetent so I can drive unsafely and like a complete ass and
have nothing to fear, as opposed to my current driving where I try to
be safe and courteous, but sometimes go 56 in a 55, which you say I
should go to jail for.

>>  You
>>probably agree with the judge that let the elderly person walk after
>>running over pedestrians on the sidewalk.

>What do you mean by "walk?"   Nobody who kills another for whatever
>reason just "walks," they usually pay a heavy, heavy
>price...particularly those who had no intent to kill.

The judge sitting on the case charged him with "failure to maintain
control of a motor vehicle."  That is a "crime" that carries no jail
time.  The defendent was never put in jail (or probation or any other
restrictions of freedom).  That is what it means to "walk."

>It depends on the specific circumstances, but I'd certainly revoke
>their license.

Didn't happen to him.  I think there is going to be a seperate hearing
on it, and there is the possibility of civil lawsuits.

>>  After all, you can't blame
>>someone that inadvertently kills, but if they deliberately park in a
>>fire lane they should go straight to jail.

>Correct in part.  Whether someone who "inadvertently kills" is
>culpable depends on the specific circumstances and their degree of
>negligence, but someone who breaks the law *deliberately* and with
>malice aforethought, deserves harsh punishment as a reminder that
>society will not tolerate scofflaws.

So you think that someone that uses forethought and goes 56 in a 55
deserves jail time, but that someone that can't keep control of their
vehicle due to incompetence and kills multiple pedestrians shouldn't
go to jail?

Your values are quite different from mine.

>Deliberation and intent have always been factors in the punishment for
>any crime.

"go free if you didn't really mean to kill, but go straight to jail
for planning on going 56 in a 55."  That isn't the same as "being a
factor."

Marc
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