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Nic Name · 06-06-2002, 12:43 PM

I'm not one to rush to judgment and I abhor trial in the media, which has become a national pastime.

But, in the Critton case under discussion we are dealing with a post conviction situation. The crime is known and guilt has been established and is not in dispute.

The issue that I wanted to get some discussion going about, is the extent to which a subsequent apparent "model citizenship" should impact sentencing.

There are many examples such as Sara Jane Olson, who pleaded guilty to the charges against her, and argued for leniency in sentencing based on her "soccer mom" lifestyle since the crime.

In the current Skakel trial, guilt has not been established as the case is still before the jury. Hypothetically though, IF he is found guilty, what impact on sentencing should be his otherwise model citizenship?

If model citizenship is exculpatory, why bring charges against upstanding citizens for alleged crimes of the distant past?

For many crimes there are applicable statutes of limitation, for public policy reasons. For crimes serious enough that there is no limitation period for bringing charges, there will often be an issue whether an upstanding life after crime confers some immunity from either prosecution or punishment, or ameliorates the sentence, and to what extent.

These are public policy issues that people should form some opinion on, whether intellectual or emotional. Emotional opinions are worth considering to form public policy. It is interesting to measure the emotional impact of these issues as well as the intellectual analysis. Hopefully, this discussion might let us know how people feel about these issues, not just what they think about the issues.

The poll is an unscientific way of weighing the thoughts and sentiments expressed in the words of the posts. It's a bit unfortunate that these polls don't allow folks to reigister a change of opinion as the discussion influences their thoughts and feelings on the topic.

Some might say that they haven't given the concept enough thought to form an opinion on the issue. That's fine. Perhaps, discussions such as this might start such a thought process. Perhaps not - and that's OK, too.

06-06-2002, 12:43 PM	#23
Nic Name retired Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,930	I'm not one to rush to judgment and I abhor trial in the media, which has become a national pastime. But, in the Critton case under discussion we are dealing with a post conviction situation. The crime is known and guilt has been established and is not in dispute. The issue that I wanted to get some discussion going about, is the extent to which a subsequent apparent "model citizenship" should impact sentencing. There are many examples such as Sara Jane Olson, who pleaded guilty to the charges against her, and argued for leniency in sentencing based on her "soccer mom" lifestyle since the crime. In the current Skakel trial, guilt has not been established as the case is still before the jury. Hypothetically though, IF he is found guilty, what impact on sentencing should be his otherwise model citizenship? If model citizenship is exculpatory, why bring charges against upstanding citizens for alleged crimes of the distant past? For many crimes there are applicable statutes of limitation, for public policy reasons. For crimes serious enough that there is no limitation period for bringing charges, there will often be an issue whether an upstanding life after crime confers some immunity from either prosecution or punishment, or ameliorates the sentence, and to what extent. These are public policy issues that people should form some opinion on, whether intellectual or emotional. Emotional opinions are worth considering to form public policy. It is interesting to measure the emotional impact of these issues as well as the intellectual analysis. Hopefully, this discussion might let us know how people feel about these issues, not just what they think about the issues. The poll is an unscientific way of weighing the thoughts and sentiments expressed in the words of the posts. It's a bit unfortunate that these polls don't allow folks to reigister a change of opinion as the discussion influences their thoughts and feelings on the topic. Some might say that they haven't given the concept enough thought to form an opinion on the issue. That's fine. Perhaps, discussions such as this might start such a thought process. Perhaps not - and that's OK, too.