On 23 Oct 2001, at 14:13, Steve Furlong wrote:
Declan McCullagh wrote:
On Mon, Oct 22, 2001 at 11:32:19PM -0400, Steve Furlong wrote:
I can't sympathise much on this basis. A family member, a retired cop and the family shame, confirmed what I had suspected: that most people in jail are there because they couldn't keep their mouths shut --- on
Um, no. Many are there because they're (gasp) "drug criminals."
Oh, certainly. I should have left my post the way I first wrote it: "most criminals in jail...", distinguishing murderers and such from people who voluntarily use drugs and those who supply them.
How about this version: Most malem in se convicts are in prison because they couldn't keep their mouths shut.
Actually, I think you were right the first time. We may feel symapthy for the malum prohibido convicts and contempt for the in se ones, but odds are pretty good that a convict of either catgeory is likely to be complicit in his own convition. In fact, small quantity non violent drug offenders are probably among the most likely to fall for the "we'll go easier on you if we cooperate" line. George
-- Steve Furlong Computer Condottiere Have GNU, Will Travel 617-670-3793
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly while bad people will find a way around the laws." -- Plato