Quote:
Originally posted by John D Harris:
quote:
Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric:
I don't know your age, but I'm guessing late teens to early 20's. That means you would be somewhere around your mid-30's to early 40's when you got out. Now stop to think about that for just a second. If someone came through the door right now and took you away, and you didn't get to come back home until you were well into your 30's or 40's - do you think a check for any amount from the state would be adequate compensation for the 2 decades you lost?
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Just to YANK your chain Cerek is that not what each of us do allready when we go to work? Do we not trade X# of hours of our life per day/week for Y amount of money?
The State ought to give lots of money and bunches of "Hookers"
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Yes, John, we do trade X# of hours of our life per day/week for Y amount of dollars. But the difference is that we do so voluntarily. While I don't make as much as I would like, I am happy with the salary I make. I also happen to enjoy my job very much (even with the obligatory headaches).
Those qualities do not apply to involuntary and wrongful interment by the state and the two are not comparable (IMHO ).
IF the compensation the state gives him actually does equal the Average Income he could have expected to have earned during the 17.5 years, that would be a step in the right direction. But I believe in most cases, the state compensation doesn't come close to that (I'll gladly concede that point if proven wrong, though). While I agree with MagiK that we shouldn't arbitrarily hand several million dollars to Mr. Washington, I feel he is actually entitled to MORE than he would have earned during the time period at a normal job. The traume, stress and mental duress of living in a prison for almost two decades is definitely deserving of punitive damages in my opinion. Again, the amount shouldn't be in the gazillions, but it should be high enough to force the state to be more careful in the prosecution of criminals.