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0 pointsmikeash12y ago0 comments

Is it already time for the "imagine you're the victim" rhetoric?

There's a reason we don't let victims decide criminal penalties.

0 comments

come on now. this article is intentionally downplaying the severity of the offenses here. breaking and entering is a serious crime. it isn't a speeding ticket. "inadvertently killing someone" is code for beat the shit out of him and he died, but i didn't mean to kill him. only maim. again, not a speeding ticket.

mikeashOP12y ago

I never compared his crimes to speeding tickets. I merely used that as an example of something clearly on one side of the line.

What is happening lately? The quality of discourse on this site has become absolutely atrocious.

chc12y ago

My theory: Hacker News has been allowing more political stories through, which attracts a certain kind of poster, which has the effect of lowering the level of discourse overall (even among erstwhile "good" commenters). The actual political threads themselves, like this one, tend to be a little ahead of the curve.

The strong aversion to politics was one of the things I liked about Hacker News. A lot of political issues are important, but they always turn discussion sites into dull point-scoring. Hopefully the moderators clamp down before it's too late.

mschuster9112y ago

The noteworthy politics-related stories I've seen in the last months almost always deal with either the NSA scandal or other attacks to basic human rights, including this one.

And I don't see any reason for these stories not to be on HN. Human rights matter for everyone.

1 more reply

ljf12y ago

No. It's pretty much always been like this.

clarky0712y ago

all i said was "come on now." Sorry if I came off too defensive. I was simply pointing out that these crimes are clearly on the other side of that line.

mikeashOP12y ago

No, you repeatedly told me that his crime was not a speeding ticket. Here's your last sentence: "again, not a speeding ticket." You clearly thought I was comparing the two.

thaumasiotes12y ago

> There's a reason we don't let victims decide criminal penalties.

True, but the process for determining what criminal penalties should be is heavily based on "imagine you're the victim".

tluyben212y ago

No it should not; then most sentences would be torture and/or murder at which point the system stops working. If someone breaks into my house and steals something while making a mess/destroying stuff etc I want to break his/her legs. A lot of people would want to shoot him (on the spot) and even do so. I'm happy though that's not the actual punishment they get as there is a lot more behind the story than this and most criminals can be rehabilitated. There are exceptions with (some sex crimes), but even there are different methods (like chemical castration which doesn't hurt) than these over the top measures that come from 'imagine you're the victim'.

mikeashOP12y ago

That's the kind of thinking that gets you amputations as punishment for theft, torture as punishment for murder, and mob justice on innocents who really really seem guilty.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

clarky0712y ago

mikeashOP12y ago

I never compared his crimes to speeding tickets. I merely used that as an example of something clearly on one side of the line.

What is happening lately? The quality of discourse on this site has become absolutely atrocious.

chc12y ago

mschuster9112y ago

The noteworthy politics-related stories I've seen in the last months almost always deal with either the NSA scandal or other attacks to basic human rights, including this one.

And I don't see any reason for these stories not to be on HN. Human rights matter for everyone.

1 more reply

ljf12y ago

No. It's pretty much always been like this.

clarky0712y ago

all i said was "come on now." Sorry if I came off too defensive. I was simply pointing out that these crimes are clearly on the other side of that line.

mikeashOP12y ago

No, you repeatedly told me that his crime was not a speeding ticket. Here's your last sentence: "again, not a speeding ticket." You clearly thought I was comparing the two.

thaumasiotes12y ago

> There's a reason we don't let victims decide criminal penalties.

True, but the process for determining what criminal penalties should be is heavily based on "imagine you're the victim".

tluyben212y ago

mikeashOP12y ago

That's the kind of thinking that gets you amputations as punishment for theft, torture as punishment for murder, and mob justice on innocents who really really seem guilty.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse