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[alex_askew]

What is the point in our criminal justice system? Does anyone know? We certainly aren't all in agreement about it. When someone commits a crime, and they go to court, and the judge or jury decides what their sentence will be, what is the purpose of the "sentence."? Some people would say it's for punishment, some as atonement, some for

Comments

[weiners]

The jury decides the verdict and the judge decides the sentence. But yeah, who knows the answer? How do you make bad people better. Maybe we need to take more preventative measures, though that seems to be something too abstract for America in general.

[alex_askew]

I'm pretty sure juries decide sentences. It depends on the trial. Sometimes it's the judge, sometimes it's the jury. From what I've seen, usually there will be one trial for the verdict and another for the sentence.

I think one of our biggest problems is understanding "bad people" in the first place. Are people born bad? Can they be changed? Are they soulless? Are they evil? Do they have a conscience? No one knows. I have my own opinions on these things, but there's no way to actually break it all down into black and white. Which is what we're trying to do with our criminal justice system.