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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dougjn who wrote (7235)	9/28/1998 4:42:00 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

Hi dougjn; The Wright ruling makes it pretty clear that Paula Jones didn't suffer sexual harassment since she suffered no bad (enough) consequences for turning Clinton down. Actually, I am relieved that the sexual harassment laws are not as broad as I feared. About those natural male urges... I know all about them. The one that got me stuck in jail was the built-in, natural, impulse towards aggression... (For the personal benefit of the readers, I would suggest avoid making any comments to an officer of the law regarding any altercations you have been in.) But enough of personal stuff. My observation is that pretty much everybody in jail got there by following their natural (or unnatural) inclinations. Failure to think is a big one. In addition, there are those who got there by making a living in a way the laws (i.e. the rest of the citizens) do not approve of. Examples include theft, drug dealing, etc. But even though I understand why all these people ended up in jail, and I feel sorry for their misfortune, I still feel that jail is the appropriate place for the vast majority of them. Jail provides several benefits for society. The one that is most obvious is that it keeps someone confined who is doing something obnoxious or dangerous in public. Sometimes it is something pretty mild, like the guy I knew who was there cause he failed to pay a traffic ticket, and then got caught fishing without a license. So a lot of people are in jail who really aren't much of a danger to society. (Here in Washington State, I saw a guy try to plead guilty to driving his car without it being properly licensed. The judge refused to accept his plea. The reason was that it was a repeat offense, and under the deterministic sentencing laws, the judge would then be required to sentence him to jail for six months, no probation. The guy didn't appear to be too smart, and spent 5 minutes arguing with the judge, just trying to admit his guilt. I suppose the judge got the DA to reduce the charges.) The second benefit is that it may improve the behavior of those who get put there. It's no fun. Having to share a cell with a bunch of mid to low-lifes is very educating, even for those with a couple graduate degrees. You learn a lot, but it isn't worth the tuition. Everybody says the same thing when those handcuffs are removed from behind their backs (after sitting on them in the back of a stuffy patrol car): "That feels good!" The third benefit is that other people notice the misfortune of those who were caught, and may modify their behavior accordingly. Maybe there is a guy out there somewhere who won't sleep with his help because he sees what happened to Clinton. I don't feel uncompassionate with respect to people in jail. In fact, when I read about some stupid crime committed by someone, I feel great sorrow for all involved, criminal as well as victim. Let me look around for my favorite quote by a judge sentencing a man to die. This is serious stuff, and it is not something to laugh about. -- Carl