It doesn't make it different... in the slightest.  There is no actual difference.

The person, fully in their right mind decided to stab someone on the fly.

The motive is irrelevent.  Motive only goes to prove the crime.

That's why "theoretically" people get sent to jail for the maxium then get parole later on.

You don't judge "reformability" until you know... they actually try and reform.

It's awful sloppy to say "He's probably going to reform so lets give him 5 years instead of 10 and if he doesn't... whoops!"

Furthermore... it's dumb to say "He's less likely to reform so lets give him 12 years instead of 10".

Because you know.  Same 2 criminals stabbed for two different reasons.

Neither reform. 

One gets out in 10 years, the other 12.   Where is the justice in that?

We have parole boards for a reason. 

I don't think I have ever won an argument. usually the people participating in the debate (Politically correct statement for argument) All have good points, evidence to support those points and reasons for them supporting those points.

We don't debate to win, we debate to learn, have fun and get to know other forum members. I even debate at times defending positions I disagree with just to see what others think. Its fun to do and its intellectual I actually bet I've learnt more here debating on the forum and other forums then I have in school.

Ease up have some fun. Your not going to win this debate anymore then I will or Sapphy Snake will. Eventually I will stop posting you will stop posting and Sapphy Snake will stop posting. Then a few days weeks or months from now we'll meet up in another thread and have a lot of fun debating with each other once again.

P.S- Good lesson, just because you don't win or get in a debate with a user doesn't mean you should take what they say personally. Everyone has different opinions. Example in this thread Sapphy Snake and I agree and are supporting the same argument. But on another topic not to long ago we disagreed and debated on different sides. Yet I have alot of respect and fun talking with Sapphy and I bet he has alot of fun debating and talking with me. I will probubly even add him to my friends list soon.

In other words we don't debate to win, we don't debate because we dislike a user. Its all supposed to be an enjoyable discussion in which everyone leaves learning things about the others opinions and we all end up making more friends!

Doesn't this make the ma bigger threat to society? They're not crazy (and crazy people should be sent to mental institutions, not prison), nor are they doing it out of need (and there could be programs who could help them to get a job and live an honest living). How exactly can you "fix" a racist/homophobe, so the he can ever be released back into society?

Short answer?  You don't need to fix them.

Reason why?  They're (racism aside) logical beings.

Why did the racist people beat up that black guy?

Probably because they could get away with it and thought it would be fun.

Well ok.  They got caught, and went to jail for a few years.

What are the chances they are going to beat up a black person again?

Pretty much none because they know they can be caught. 

The actual length of the punishment doesn't matter so long as it's a the risk far outweighs the reward of the slight rush of beating someone up.  In fact increased punishment may be worse, because their economic situation might get worse while in jail.

Either that or because they have an anger disorder.  In which case... the anger disorder is the real problem and it's not going to be directed just at people of a certain race.

That is bullshit, if you commit a crime and the motive is you hate the person, you get 10 years, if you commit a crime and the motive is that you hate all people of that ethnicity, you get 12 years.

However, I don't care all that much cos the guys are dicks :P

That document infuriates me. Recidivism rates basically highlight everything wrong with our criminal justice system.

I hate the US prison system so much

I'm going cross-eyed

In Mother Russia you do not commit the hate crime, the hate crime commits you.

Hating is okay, harrassing is terrible.

Yeah... it's annoying.  In general I think that's the way it is everywhere though.  From what I can find anway.  The Recidivism rates seem pretty standard.  In your new home the recidivism rate is apparenty 75% in the provincial system.  Unsure of federal.

A harder stat to find out then you'd think too.  For some reason Canada doesn't like to look at that kind of thing.

It doesn't help that... well prisons are hellholes where if anything criminal, racism and anti-social behavior are actually reinforced.

It also shows how dumb drug laws are.

In general, NOBODY is doing prison right.

In Michigan they'd get 90 days and a pat on the back... sigh

This is another one of those cases where I wish I was a Miracle Man-esque benevolent dictator.