Monday, January 24, 2011

Our Snail's Pace Criminal Justice System

According to ABC News, the case against the Jared Loughner will take years to process.

The man accused of carrying out the mass shooting in Tucson faces a court hearing Monday — an early step in a case against Jared Loughner that could take years to wend its way through the criminal justice system.
In my opinion this case could be wrapped up in a few months, let alone years. There's no question about Loughner's guilt. The procedural maneuvering detailed by ABC is a gigantic waste of time and money. The key question is whether or not Loughner is insane to the point where he isn't responsible for his own actions. I'm skeptical of this argument, since he was apparently able to function normally in society. But maybe he really is that crazy. If he is, then the death penalty shouldn't even be an option. He should be confined for life in a facility for the criminally insane.

If Loughner is not truly insane, then the case should be open and shut. There's no risk of sentencing an innocent man to death. Obviously he should be charged with the death penalty, convicted and executed. There's no good reason it should take years. But it probably will.

2 comments:

  1. I never got the point of not executing the insane. If they have no grasp of reality, all the more reason we don't need them around. Just tell them it's a Disneyland ride, it'll be humane.

    I doubt it, but the fact that courts are bogged down with drug cases might be a factor in the length of time this will all take. I doubt it, but maybe.

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  2. I assume you are joking about executing the insane. But as for the drug cases, I don't know if that has any effect on this particular situation. But our prisons are certainly clogged up with non-violent drug offenders who shouldn't even be imprisoned in the first place. Ending the so-called "War on Drugs" would do wonders for our prison system.

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