Insanity vs. Guilt...Clarification...

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Click here for Part II...

Click here for Part III...

Click here for Conclusion...

In response to concerns from some readers, it may be necessary to clear up some points of misunderstanding...Under no circumstances am I condoning the ownership, or enslavement of one human being by another...Such an idea is rightfully repugnant to any but the most depraved members of any free society...

Neither am I putting forth the revocation of rights as humans of any inmate, nor the transposition of any person currently incarcerated in the prison system from internee to property...What I propose is a newly established set of sentencing guidelines, whereby judges, empowered to punish those convicted, or those who have admitted guilt to the most onerous crimes, may impose sentence to a term of slavery as allowed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States...

This severe punishment must be carried out only on those whose guilt has been established beyond any reasonable doubt, whether convicted by a jury, or admitted to by the accused...Those whose guilt has been firmly established may be sentenced to a term of slavery in which the jurisdictional entity becomes the owner of the inmate for the duration of the sentence...The "owner" then becomes responsible for the secure housing, welfare and humane treatment of the inmate until such time as human rights are restored...

The "property" relinquishes all rights as human beings just as they disregarded the rights of their victims...They will be separated not only from society, but from each other and previously convicted criminals who were sentenced under guidelines prevailing in an earlier time...

Currently incarcerated prisoners who commit new crimes in their present environment could be sentenced to a new term of slavery, and transferred to a facility designed to house the property...As possessions of the sentencing entity, the right of communication among themselves, to appeal their treatment, or to schedule their own activities will be denied...

Administration of execution of these sentences must be undertaken by persons appointed by the sentencing jurisdiction who understand completely that they have the responsibility to maintain the property in the best order with the intent of restoring ownership to the property itself...Mistreatment for the sake of further punishment is not the goal, and accountability by the administration must be one of its goals...

Some might argue that The framers of the 13th Amendment intended that imprisonment for crime as it stood then was the slavery they sought to continue...My contention is that since the 13th became law, no person has been sentenced by a court to a term of slavery as punishment, and its implementation can serve as a useful tool in reforming the criminally-minded as well as a strong deterrent to those considering such a move...

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