This is not restorative justice this an eye for an eye
A man in Louisiana is on the cusp of being released from prison where he has been kept in solitary confinement for "43 years". He isn't out yet, the authorities are fighting his release, as if his sentence wasn't barbaric enough.
Of course there are regimes throughout the world which are worse. ISIS simply chop off your head as an example, torture is very prevalent in many countries, summery execution is common but on the whole we divide nations by the way they treat the disadvantaged, the sick and the incarcerated and we hold them up to the light of day to see how they use their power.
One of the great positives which has come out of the European Union is the consensus achieved through the Human Rights Act about the rights of human beings to be treated fairly and with humanity. The rules governing the protection of prisoners is strong because they are 'vulnerable' and exposed to a public who sometimes are baying for blood as revenge for a terrible crime the prisoner has committed. The 'death penalty' for instance is the populist response when the crime is particularly heinous and we have all been guilty of being surprised even horrified at what we see as light sentences especially when we know the sentence will be cut in half and the prisoner will be out on the street in no time.
We, as a European nation are a million miles away from the Americans, a nation who we would draw parallels with in terms of our past links and shared culture but a nation who we do not understand in terms of their 'gun culture', their lack of a common 'welfare commitment' and their treatment of prisoners where a "throw away the key" policy is in place and that's not to mention what goes on in Guantanamo !
It's strange how the culture gets in the way of our all growing up with the same ideals and how from the outside we are so similar but inside our heads, we are "chalk and cheese".
A man in Louisiana is on the cusp of being released from prison where he has been kept in solitary confinement for "43 years". He isn't out yet, the authorities are fighting his release, as if his sentence wasn't barbaric enough.
Of course there are regimes throughout the world which are worse. ISIS simply chop off your head as an example, torture is very prevalent in many countries, summery execution is common but on the whole we divide nations by the way they treat the disadvantaged, the sick and the incarcerated and we hold them up to the light of day to see how they use their power.
One of the great positives which has come out of the European Union is the consensus achieved through the Human Rights Act about the rights of human beings to be treated fairly and with humanity. The rules governing the protection of prisoners is strong because they are 'vulnerable' and exposed to a public who sometimes are baying for blood as revenge for a terrible crime the prisoner has committed. The 'death penalty' for instance is the populist response when the crime is particularly heinous and we have all been guilty of being surprised even horrified at what we see as light sentences especially when we know the sentence will be cut in half and the prisoner will be out on the street in no time.
We, as a European nation are a million miles away from the Americans, a nation who we would draw parallels with in terms of our past links and shared culture but a nation who we do not understand in terms of their 'gun culture', their lack of a common 'welfare commitment' and their treatment of prisoners where a "throw away the key" policy is in place and that's not to mention what goes on in Guantanamo !
It's strange how the culture gets in the way of our all growing up with the same ideals and how from the outside we are so similar but inside our heads, we are "chalk and cheese".
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