Despair at sentencing

[WeaselCheeks]

I'm so sick of men who harm women and children getting an easy time in the courts. I know there's always the argument that the public don't see all the evidence, etc, and that guidelines are complex... but seriously, what the fuck?

This morning's despair was triggered by the murderer of Joanna Simpson having his early release blocked. Whilst that in itself is good, what utterly baffled me is that her murderer isn't actually technically a murderer. He was found not guilty of murder, and convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

He smuggled the murder weapon, a hammer, into her home in one of his children's homework bags. He had a 'kill kit' containing shoe covers and overalls. He 100% planned it. He killed her whilst their children were in the same house.

How the fuck is that not murder?

That, combined with the news about the rapist who was acquitted after his earlier conviction and sentence of community service (lenient because he was under 25, which seems to give young rapists a lot of leeway)...just Jesus fucking Christ.

I saw photos of the Smirking rapist. It's so depressing. Soon people will have to take the law into their own hands.

Joanna Sampson’s killer was not convicted of murder because 12 people who listened to all the evidence weren’t convinced he murdered her. Whether the jury actually understood and considered the evidence and argument presented to them is of course questionable. I haven’t served on a jury recently but know a lot of people who have and they have all been shocked at the lack of basic comprehension of many of their fellow jurors. “Mouth-breathers who dismissed anything they didn’t understand (which was everything) and operated purely on ‘feels’”, was one comment by a colleague.

That they released Colin Pitchfork and Ryan Herbert ( he kicked Sophie Lancaster to death ) had his sentence reduced was enough, for any sane person , to question whether we actually have a justice System at all, or just a legal framework. It’s more than depressing, it’s a betrayal of our human rights.

Life should mean just that. You die in that prison. And nothing will persuade me otherwise.

Me too...i was saddened, furious

Joanna Simpson’s killer had also dug a deep grave.

her family and friends blame the prosecution for treating it as an open and shut case. Basically too lazy.

This is why I am of the opinion that we have got beyond the stage where trial by jury is worth the risk. Maybe I am just getting old, but the level of stupidity I see on a daily basis has convinced me that we would be better with a system of three judges for serious crimes. Even some of the judges I have read about seem to be questionable.
Of course now that the prisons are all full, the question of sentencing seems to be redundant.

“Mouth-breathers who dismissed anything they didn’t understand (which was everything) and operated purely on ‘feels’”, was one comment by a colleague.

Is your colleague particularly misanthropic?

Juries are, in practice, a cross section of the eligible population (removing those with occupations that tend to exempt them from serving).

I agree that the well-publicised news items highlight misogyny but that doesn't feel entirely out of step with the levels in the general population.

@RethinkingLife she's pretty dismissive of people with very poor comprehension and critical thinking skills making life changing decisions over others based purely on who they feel more sorry for. I'm not sure if that makes her misanthropic.

My DH served on a jury many years ago and he was horrified at the level of comprehension of some of his fellow jurers. They introduced out-there theories about what might have happened based on TV shows they'd seen, and just couldn't understand that they had to deal with just the evidence actually in front of them. He said it was one of the worst experiences of his life.

You and she are unaware of the pejorative use of "mouth-breathers"?

English lexicographer Jonathon Green notes that by 1915, the phrase "mouth-breather" had developed a pejorative connotation within English slang, defined as a "stupid person." Currently, the Macmillan Dictionary defines the term "mouth breather" as a pejorative noun that is used to mean "a stupid person."

She categorised the jurors in a particularly rebarbative manner. You elected to quote the phrase.

We don't have substantial research evidence about jury composition. I acknowledge your anecdote about the number of people you claim to know and their reports of being "shocked" at the lack of "basic comprehension" skills.

@RethinkingLife of course she is aware of the fact that “mouthbreather” is perjorative. That’s why she used it to describe people she considered to be idiots. Of course “idiots” would have done just as well but “mouthbreather” is so much more visually descriptive.