I was reading an article on abcnews.com about a French man receiving a punishment of 25 years in prison for burning a woman to death. The accomplice received only 8 years. Article
I was shocked when I read the article. In my opinion, the punishment was not harsh enough. I would like to hear from others about what you think the proper punishment should have been.
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 1 0.1%
I agree with you. I think it was premeditated but the judges thought otherwise:
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 1089 100%
While I agree the punishment was not as severe as I would have expected, I have also seen worse. I have seen child molesters who molested multiple children get 8 years or less, total, regardless of the number of children involved. 25 years for this youth would put him at 47 when he is released, barring if there is the possibility for parole. By then he would have been so distanced from society that he would have wished he were back in his jail cell the rest of his life. We also do not know the circumstances surrounding the incident. Not that I am saying anything should give a person the right to douse another in gasoline and light them on fire, but we cannot make a judgement unless we have all the facts.
International Level: Envoy / Political Participation: 241 24.1%
Its hard to know their mind set when this happened. If it truly was an accident, then the punishment fits the crime. If they were trying to scare her and were lighting matches around her then then punishment isn't enough. That kind of behavior is unacceptable. But I agree with Male at this point, not knowing all the court details inhibits me from throwing the book at them when greater crimes have received less.
No, when lawyers get criminals off with technicalities, or use media play to downplay the harshness of their clients crimes, they are able to reduce the punishment. Liberal lawyers and judges seem to think that they can reform criminals with light punishments, instead of providing discouragement to fit the severity of the crime.