Woman Sentenced To 5 Years In McDonald's Transgender Attack - http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/09/13/woman-sentenced-to-5-years-in-rosedale-transgender-attack/

Justice served.

That old woman had more balls than the McDonald's staff. At least she was trying to stop them. Anyone who would punch an old woman in the face needs to be locked up and anyone who beats someone into a seizure needs to be locked up.

Yeah, that's true.

Quote from: NatashaD on September 13, 2011, 10:25:29 PMJustice served.

Agreed. She will have more than enough time to think long and hard about what she did.

What about the guy filming the attack and laughing? He'd better get a bit more punishment than being fired from McDonald's.

Quote from: blake on September 15, 2011, 02:07:27 PM
What about the guy filming the attack and laughing? He'd better get a bit more punishment than being fired from McDonald's.

Although it was wrong of him, he didn't actually participate in the attack. Jumping in and trying to stop the attack isn't a smart idea either. I think him getting the boot from McDonald's was punishment enough.

I feel that experiencing a beatdown while being filmed and mocked would be way worse than a simple beatdown, because it has the added humilation. Which arguably breaks Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

But I definitely see where you're coming from, Jen. Once I calm down, I'll probably agree with you.

I'm no lawyer but if the victim is identifiable and therefore had no rights to publish this, is there a possible law suit there? I hope she wins a HUGE civil case against McDonalds. Instead of video taping this laughing, they should have been calling 911.

Harsh sentences - also known as Draconian Law - tend to increase violence - it's counter-productive to societies interest in the long run.

Quote from: Laura91 on September 14, 2011, 02:23:47 PM
Locked up? Nah. Just shoot them in the head. That may sound harsh but if we employed some true punishment for crimes of this nature then the crime rate would decline significantly.

A concealed-carry permit could have worked wonders.

Quote from: tekla on September 15, 2011, 09:51:14 PM
Harsh sentences - also known as Draconian Law - tend to increase violence - it's counter-productive to societies interest in the long run.

I disagree, mainly because that statement is attempting to paint a forest on a postage stamp with a paint roller.

There are many ways to combat violence and crime. Harsh punishment may not always be the way to fix it, but punishments should be harsh and swift in order to them to have any effect on the activity one is trying to correct.

The person that conducted that beat-down is a savage in the literal sense of the term. Nobody who has such a blatant disregard for personal liberty or human life deserves light punishment.

 I felt quite disgusted reading the messages posted after the article. There seem to be a lot of very sick people out there.

Cindy

It's actually a 10 year sentence with 5 years suspended so even after she serves her mandatory 5 she will still be on the court's radar for 5 more years... So if she gets up to any more mischief after she gets out or even while she is in custody, the courts can make her serve the remaining 5 years

What she did was wrong and I am glad she is off the street and serving her sentence... But I feel no need to wish her any ill will as that would bring me stooping to the level of a thug and no better than the violent behavior that appalls me

It takes a violent offender off the street... Unfortunately, she will most likely become worse rather than better

Well I'm sure that after five years she's come out all rehabilitated and repentant and all that, ready to take her place as contributing member of society and as a staunch defender of the rights of others.  Because if there is one place that teaches compassion and respect for the milk of human kindness it's the prison-industrial complex of the US.

And I get some of the hostility toward the camera guy, but on the other hand with out video I doubt there would have been this kind of resolution.  It was the video that made the authorities sit up and have to do something.  Otherwise it would have been just another instance of ghetto people acting all ghetto at a ghetto Micky-Dees.

As for harsh sentences and all that, why do you think that one of the strongest and most vocal opponents to 3-Strikes Laws are police associations?  While the rape of Brandon Teena was directly tied to the TG status deal, I'm sure most of the murder had to do with the 3 strikes crap in Nebraska.  Because once they knew they were facing their third felony, they had nothing left to lose by killing him.  And hell, kill everyone else there too - the penalty is the same.  In most states I'd do more time for selling you cocaine then if I raped you.  You'd think that with harsh penalty like that no one would would ever come near coke, but it does not work out like that.  Matter of fact the entire drug law structure is far harsher than the crime, and over time (that whole war on drugs thing) have become even harsher, yet the amount of drugs, as well as the number of users has not declined.  Texas is the number one state in terms of the death penalty.  You'd think that after a year or two of that (and it's been going on for decades) crime would drop off, or at least the murder rate would.  But no.  States with the Death Penalty have higher crime rates that states that don't have it. 

While harsh sentences make normal law-abiding people feel better, the fact is that the people who would/should worry about it are not normal or law-abiding, and they think in a different way.  And harsher sentences only serve to increase the levels of crime because if you're going to be in for a penny, you might as well be in for a pound.

Quote from: Cindy James on September 16, 2011, 02:01:44 AM
I felt quite disgusted reading the messages posted after the article. There seem to be a lot of very sick people out there.

Cindy

Yep. There is a lot of hate in this world and I find it  sad..

I saw this on youtube before I saw it here.  Apparently the cameraman got charged as an accessory, I'm not completely sure of it though.

I notice the messages below the article will fluctuate and often run in strings back and forth between hateful and supportive depending on who's posting at the time

There will often be a string of haters then a string of supporters and/or visa verse

Without de-railing the thread I agree with Tekla that harsh sentencing, which I define as death or imprisonment without any hope of parole,  needs to be carefully thought about. Emotion is a very bad bedfellow for debate about such matters. Yes I do have personal feelings that some people are just too dangerous to society to ever be allowed to be free. But they are relatively few. I have always been against the death penalty. It is barbaric and reduces society to the level of the criminal. It is also an easy way out. I'd much rather those people rot alive than die (relatively) easily. which probably means I'm not a very nice person either.

It is my understanding that judicial death sentencing only exists in China and the USA, a strange and sad relationship. My understanding and I may be wrong, is that the death penalty is strongly supported by the right wing religious groups, again I find this an odd opinion for people who believe in a God of love and forgiveness.

Sorry for derailing.

Cindy     

There are still places in the Middle East and Africa where people, particularly women accused of adultry are publicly stoned to death

http://impunitywatch.com/?p=12906

http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/end-execution-stoning-iran

http://allafrica.com/stories/200112030043.html

There are States in the USA that still have the death sentence, but not all... It is a sentence generally reserved for murderers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States 

Sorry for any derailment of the thread

There is also a federal death penalty, like for Tim McVeigh.