Originally posted by Yeager
Let me ask you this, if its wrong to stop putting violent murderers to death because one innocent person was wrongfully executed, would it be wrong to stop putting people in prison for life because we know that innocent people have been wrongfully sentenced to life in prison?
No, that's still too harsh.
The right method is to pat them in the head, tell them not to do it again, sentence them for 5 years in prison and release in 2 years.
If the convicted person made crime as part of a gang, then rest of the gang members should be fined for an assault - like kicking once or twice - and for carrying a knife in public. If neither of the conditions is met, then the gang member should be released without fines.
BTW. that's a true story from over here, except for the part about release in 2 years (news from couple weeks back). A drunken man was stabbed to death by a gang of three (or more? didn't tell); one member stabbed him three times, another member kicked him couple of times and the third member carried a knife. They tried to defend their actions as self-defence, claiming that the drunken man had threatened them and tried to assault, however the judge didn't buy this excuse. Regardless, the killer was sentenced for 5 years in prison, another fined for kicking the victim and the third fined for carrying a knife in public. A demand for compensation of 16,000 euros by two brothers of the victim was turned down by the judge on the basis that they weren't thought to have been closely related relatives anymore. The killers were quite young, ranging from 15 to 18 years old; though, 15 y/o's are legally responsible for their crimes.