>>>>>>Hi peter,
>>>>
>>>>>>>My faith in judges is quite low, because I think that many of them (okay, some of them) are not intelligent enough for the job.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>hmmm sound like discrimination??
>>>>>
>>>>>Huh? So, every negative opinion is discrimination? I think, the first person to oppose that idea is Walter Meester. :)
>>>>
>>>>LOL, yes you're right, I appearantly forgot to enter the smily :)
>>>>
>>>>>>>But how can I prove this? There is no public list of their EQ/IQ-scores. And what score is high enough according to me? And which factors are important here? Empathy, analitical? Judges are always alpha-scientists. How would a beta-scientist score in court? It is probably too difficult to discuss here. Others can easilly say the opposite of what I say and in the end we would probably have to agree to disagree.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I do not have any practical experiences with judges, so I really could not say much about your opinion.
>>>>>
>>>>>Like you, I too am a very civilized person who has not ever been in court. The exception is a traffic fine that I didn't agree with. THAT judge was a morron, I tell you.
>>>>
>>>>>Do you know that in the U.S. 715 out of 100,000 people are in jail? In the Netherlands 123 people only. (Source: Charles Groenhuijsen) Is this proof that on average U.S. citizens are more evil people than we are? <g>
>>>>
>>>>It of course is very difficult to analyze this from a number only, but i've read somewhere that the US do have a serious problem here. We can speculate on a lot of things like the huge gap between rich and poor, the enourmous poverty in some areas and amongst some ethnical groups, the right to carry a gun, The ease to buy a gun, but it all remains speculation.
>>>
>>>No need to speculate. Some causes are known. One of them is the rule 'three strikes and you're out'. The third time that you commit some crime, you go to jail 'forever'. A problem here is that the kind of crime originally was of importance (violent crimes), but appears to be a minor factor in reality. So, you beat up someone, get convicted, steal some food, get convicted, steal some videotapes, go to jail forever. Gheezzz. They must be out of their mind.
>>
>>Peter;
>>
>>In California there are more people serving a life term in prison having been convicted of smoking or possession of marijuana, then those serving a life term for murder, due to the three strikes law.
>>
>>Tom
>
>Do you agree? (I don't.) Better ask: Do people agree?

Peter;

Personally, I think that if a person commits violent crimes (3) then there is a pattern that I am concerned with. One is too many! When it comes to incarcerating someone for non violent crimes then it is absurd to use the three strikes law. The people I talk to do not agree with the three strikes law for minor crimes.

Concerning murder, I read a few years ago that:

1. 57% of murderers are unknown and never found.
2. 28% go to trial.
3. 13% are convicted.

Of those that are apprehended the vast majority are turned in by family members or friends and not by “good police work”.

Tom