SE1-The Proper Punishment Act (debating)

[Leinad]

Lawn signs won't work because 1) not everyone has a lawn and 2) people can grow bushes. Any permanent or even temporary measure to notify people of these things would require enough legal acrobatics to fill an entire computer screen just to cover the loopholes. For example, what if someone has the sign on "their" lawn, yet stays in a friend's guest bedroom across town? Would you pay people to keep track of their average position in order to determine where and how to put the sign? What if gardening is a major factor in their rehabilitation, and the sign disrupts that, sending them spiraling back to where they once were? (Okay, the last one is a stretch matched only by military-strength elastic, but you get my point.)

And even if you find a way to put that section together loophole free, I'd suggest the wording be more like: "...committed zoophilia, pedophilia, or rape..." instead of "...participated in zoophillia, pedophillia, or rape (being the rapist)..." The part within parentheses does an okay job fixing the ambiguity, but it would be better with no ambiguity at all. Less words, more clarity.

I'll hold back comment on lots of the stuff (i.e. the important parts), although criminal justice does certainly interest me. (It's easier to make off-the-cuff pedantic comments on lawn signs and proper wording than the heavier stuff.)

Also, I'd love to see what Steelers says, given that he's, uh, literally the only Legislator not to have sponsored this bill.

[Leinad]

Steelers: Kids already get sent to jail for stuff like that. Well, juvenile detention, but still.

Misinformation, whether intentional or, in this case, unintentional, is often the best way to ruin an otherwise constructive debate.

The question, I suppose, is when does someone become as "capable of cognitive thought" as an adult? To deserve the full punishment, that is. It's a hard problem to figure out, as I'm neither a rapist, murderer, or psychologist and thus have a hard time imagining their thought process. I suppose most people who commit horrible crimes like that are someone messed up mentally already (mental illness or something like that), so that clouds their thinking. (To clarify: I'm not saying that they therefore deserve to be given more lenient sentences. On the contrary, it makes their imprisonment more crucial, for the protection of others. It's just food for thought.)

[Leinad]

Errors:

-The lawn sign part makes no sense, as it can easily be loopholed as I previously said.

-The wording of section 2, even if it's kept, is somewhat clumsy (again, I detailed this previously).

-Teens aged 16-18 already are punished as adults. Because, in Atlasia, the age of majority is 16.


I mean, I also see the fact that if a 14 or 15 year old does this, they're still going to get a hefty penalty. They aren't running free. Sorry, but I think I'll need more convincing if I'm going to sign this.