Breivik judged to be sane

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by u crank

I would agree, but I still have some mixed feelings on the subject of capital punishment. Here in Canada the death penalty was eliminated in 1976, but there have been some cases where I would not have disagreed with it

I can understand that. It's not like I didn't in certain local cases have similar feelings as well. But our feelings and opinions are just that: feelings and opinions. People have been lynched in the past based on feelings and opinions, and I'm glad we are not doing that anymore. If they have to be killed because of their crimes, then at least I want the society to have balls to say: "Yes, we have death penalty and we are using it." That hopefully creates enough rational standards to save the death penalty for only the people who have no other options.

Breivik's case along with some others reminds me of a book I read last spring. If I'm not totally mistaken, it was Andrei Sinyavsky's Soviet Civilization: A Cultural History (a good book, by the way). In it the author described the Soviet Gulag system among other things by saying that the people who were sentenced there were afraid for their lives. Not because they were sentenced to forced labor, but because they were sentenced to live with "criminals". They sincerely believed that they themselves were sentenced there by mistake that would soon be corrected, but all the other inmates were dangerous criminals who deserved their punishment.

In short, they basically accepted the existence of such punishment, because it was reserved for "criminals". And I believe this is what is happening always when we (anywhere) are discussing a serious crime and its punishment. We are ready to accept even unusual forms of punishment that are against the current laws, because we also believe we are immune to such punishment ourselves. We are not criminals after all, right? But as the Soviet example shows, "criminal" is a label that can easily be stamped on anyone in the right conditions.

That's why I would keep an extra careful watch for how our society is treating the criminals and on what the sentences are based on. In this sense Norway couldn't have acted better. The public pressure must have been high, but the common sense won in the end.

As other posters have said, the best punishment for Breivik is to have him become a non entity. Denying him his mad dreams and wishes is the best a civilized society can do.

And here we are in 100 % agreement.

[u crank]

Originally Posted by Hottentot

That's why I would keep an extra careful watch for how our society is treating the criminals and on what the sentences are based on. In this sense Norway couldn't have acted better. The public pressure must have been high, but the common sense won in the end.

Agreed. It was handled without hysteria. In the long run I think this will help the victims' families deal with their loss.

As a further comment on the death penalty; I believe the best reason for not having it is the possibility of killing an innocent person. Here in Canada we have a long and shameful list of wrongly convicted people. Some of them probably would have been executed for their alleged crimes. One such case was that of David Milgaard who was convicted of murdering 22-year-old nursing assistant Gail Miller in 1969 in Saskatoon. Milgaard spent 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

But on the other end of the scale is Olsen who led police to all eleven of his victims bodies and confessed to their murders. In this case, well ....

I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

[Jimbuna]

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik gave a Nazi salute on Tuesday as he entered court for a parole hearing that will decide if he should be released after spending more than a decade behind bars.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...cid=uxbndlbing

[Kapitan]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik gave a Nazi salute on Tuesday as he entered court for a parole hearing that will decide if he should be released after spending more than a decade behind bars.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...cid=uxbndlbing

About turn and goose step back into that cell for another ten

[Catfish]

They cannot actually think of relaesing this Pos at any time in the future ?

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

About turn and goose step back into that cell for another ten

Precisely

Originally Posted by Catfish

They cannot actually think of relaesing this Pos at any time in the future ?

I certainly hope not