Something Feral

Digging up the flower-beds.


Tuesday, September 9, 2008

When in doubt, empty the clip

- A simple yet effective RFID hack.

- Delicious, delicious irony, brought to you by the United Faildom.

- Yet another argument against the supposed need for regulation and licensing of fundamental rights.

- The conceptual realization is there, as is the sense of justice. Now, if only the two together in a single philosophy, perhaps where the jury could have some sort of "veto power"...

4 comments:

Elusive Wapiti said...

"They said they would not have convicted Montes and Scarmazzo of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise had they realized the felony carries a mandatory prison sentence of 20 years to life."

This is one of the wonderful things about jury nullifcation.

Putting aside questions of judging the law (which it does), it also allows jurors, you know, the peers of the accused, to exact mercy. Particularly in cases where the punishment does not, in the judgement of the community, fit the crime.

If given the choice between justice and mercy, I'll take (and give) mercy every time.

Something Feral said...

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, especially given that the legal system is intentionally duplicitous regarding the abridgment of the 5th and 8th Amendments. A truly just sentencing would be void; the state law is clear, and Constitutionally-speaking, the Feds don't have a leg to stand on.

The bait-and-switch tactic used by federal prosecutors is unjust; mandatory sentencing is only a method of legal churning that generates revenue for the court system. Mercy, strangely enough, is merely using the trial-by-jury system as intended, as the conviction rate would plummet with full disclosure of the stakes. The vindication by said jury-trial would go far to encourage those so oppressed by the predations of the State as well, which speaks to the lack of its exercise, I think.

"Draconian" is traditionally used as a pejorative term, but as things exist today, it's the rule rather than the exception.

And as just another sinner, I'd rather have the mercy. Justice is something that I'm hesitant to dole out, as I do not have perfect judgment.

Elusive Wapiti said...

"I don't think the two are mutually exclusive...the conviction rate would plummet with full disclosure of the stakes. "

An excellent point that speaks a lot to the justice inherent in our "justice system" if The People would invalidate it if given the chance.

Something Feral said...

There's something to be said for having a legal code that is clear and succinct. It should, like the software sense of the word, be a logical structure that is both easy to read, obey, apply, and utilize.

There's a reason the Code of Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments were kind of a "big deal".