[ExI] punishment

[BillK]

On 3/18/09, Stefano Vaj wrote:
>  In fact, especially capital punishment is considered by traditional
>  catholic doctrine as a *very* effective opportunity for rehabilitation
>  and reform.
>
>  In particular, it gives prison chaplains an inestimable opportunity to
>  approach criminals under severe stress and an immediate threat to
>  their life, suggesting them if anything to accept a Pascal wager ("if
>  you convert and sincerely repent, what would you have to lose at this
>  point even if no paradisiac reward were there waiting for you?").
>


The prison system really hates prisoners who won't admit they are guilty.

This leads to prisoners who are wrongly convicted being treated far,
far worse than those who admit their crime.

In the UK, if you give a guilty plea, your sentence is immediately cut
in half for being 'co-operative' and saving a lengthy trial.

Life sentence murderers are usually out in under ten years (unless it
was particularly bad, like a serial killer).

The latest case where DNA testing has proved his innocence has been
locked up for 27 years, with no option for parole, because he refused
to admit to the murder.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7948001.stm>

Now aged 57, he has spent more than half of his life in custody.

His conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal after DNA tests on
evidence from the 1979 murder scene showed Mr Hodgson did not carry
out the crime.
Throughout his jail term Mr Hodgson always protested his innocence,
meaning he was never considered for parole.
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BillK