Posted on 06/06/2011 7:52:42 PM PDT by PROCON
Two US prisoners who have been held in solitary confinement for nearly 40 years should have their isolation ended immediately, Amnesty International said Tuesday. Albert Woodfox, 64, and Herman Wallace, 69, have been held in solitary at Louisiana State Penitentiary ever since they were convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1972, the London-based human rights group said.
Their four-decade ordeal "is cruel and inhumane and a violation of the US's obligations under international law," said Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty's Americas deputy director.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
See post 21.
Talk about media spin; I wouldn't believe them as far as I could throw them!
Bill,
Either get a pair of glasses and learn to read or stop posting.
I fully support Capital Punishment. My question is why was that not done back in 1972????
Convict these “yuts” of murder and then hang ‘em.
That is what our constitution calls for. Not frigging putting people in solitary for 40 years
And stupid dumb things like vigalante justice that you propose would make us savaqes like the ROP. We have a constitution. This is what makes us civilized.
Come to Texas. We lead the world in Capital Punishment. But we follow a process. We don’t just go shootin’
Well, I don't.
The criminal justice system is to punish. period.
The only guarantee of no recidevism.
I don't really care who made up those cute objectives.
Yawn. You trust shAmnesty International?
Yes, we have a lot in common, but Louisiana is also quite corrupt. Sorry....but that is what I believe.
I favor the Death Penalty. Fully. In Texas we kill more people in a year then our Esteemed El Presidente has created jobs in 2 years.
I follow the constitution. If these “yoots” killed the guy, then convict them and hang ‘em high
Simple as that. But keeping them in solitary for 40 years makes me think that the Louisiana authorities have something to hide or something they cannot prove.
LOL, good point, guess I better hit the rack and quit spouting nonsense!..:=)
:)
You need to ask that question?
I agree. But at one time in our nation’s history, people had a set of laws that they could follow (There are tens of thousands today), and expect justice, from a jury of their peers. Today you probably could not name 1 percent of the laws written over a lifetime of study. Thousands of people are turning out tens of thousands a year. I have no fond feeling of Amnesty International either.
“The criminal justice system is to punish. period.”
Well, you’re free to feel that way, but it’s not justice, to anyone. And “Punish” is an abstract term. The “cute” objectives are a matter of classification, not cuteness. If someone was to murder someone and made on example of (it doesn’t work), they receive a prison sentence (deterrence-to others, Punishment-vengence, and safety-for others). If someone was robbed and ordered to repay, that’s recompense. If someone was drunk and hit a hedge or stop sign and ordered to rehab, that’s rehabilitation.
The name of the criminal justics system is “Criminal JUSTICE” because it’s supposed to bring justice, not punishment (with all that that encompasses). That’s not to say there is no punishment in criminal justice, it’s just no the main goal. The goal is to bring order to society. And there are ways to do that, and not do that. And jail has proven ineffective at doing that. A walled labor camp is my style. BEsides, if Obama has his way, we’ll all be criminals like Ayn Rand predicted (abstractly). And then you’ll certainly want justice and not merely “punishment.” In fact you probably already commit a number of crimes daily (remember the average is 3), and they can range from looking at a moose from an airplane (this was a crime, in I forget which state), to any number of ridiculous things. But That’s not the topic of the thread, so I’ll let it get back to the prisoners at hand. I was just addressing your “cute” comment.
Sorry, I am old enough to remember this not being unusual in any way.
Do they have food and water? Then it isnt cruel.
Hey, even before they killed a prison guard, they weren't the nicest guys around, and it's not like they didn't know the damn rules.
I kinda dig that they've been rotting away in solitary for 40 years. Doesn't seem cruel at all to me.
Hell, they're lucky I'm not their jailer. They would've done the last 40 years in total darkness. Screw them.
Very good point.
These guys were sentenced to solitary in 1972. I assume at that point the Supreme Court ban on capital punishment was in effect. So the larger question is if someone doing life or a long sentence kills a guard in prison in a state that forbids capital punishment, what punishment does the state mete out. Another life sentence? What deterrent does the state have in such a case to prevent lifers from killing guards or other prisoners?
I admire your attempts to defend limited, constitutional government.
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