rjs (09/02/82)
Lew Mammel's interpretation of the outrage to Jo Jo's release doesn't necessarily fit the situation. First of all, incarcerating him certainly can be considered protecting society, in particular all the other 14 year old girls he might rape if free. This is especially true from a woman's point of view since it also involves protection of herself. Lew also says that "deep down, we know ourselves to be capable of atrocities such as Jo Jo actually committed". I know this doesn't hold for myself, and am fairly certain that it doesn't hold for most women in this world. Prison protects society in two ways. First, people who have demonstrated the willingness to commit violent crimes can be removed from it at least temporarily, thus reducing the opportunity for further violent crimes, and second, it provides some deterent factor. The deterent factor is actually fairly low, and a part of this is due to the low perceived risk. As more and more means of avoiding prison (which are unrelated to the commission of crimes) appear, this perceived risk gets even lower. I'm not afraid to sign my name. Robert Snyder floyd!rjs