Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 23

Thread: How much is your life worth?

  1. #1

    Lightbulb How much is your life worth?

    originally posted here.

    A judge on Monday freed a man who had been found guilty of raping and murdering a teenage girl in the 1980s. The man had confessed but recent DNA tests showed he couldn't have been the killer. Upon hearing his conviction was overturned after 17 years in prison, Eddie Joe Lloyd thrust his arms forward and gave an emphatic "Thank you."
    There are quite a few bugs in the justice system. This being one of them.. but when cases like these occur, how are we supposed to repay these people? Surely the state dosen't expect a simple appology to justify their mistake(s). You can't just take 17 years of some one's life and expect an appology to make it up. Unless that's your twisted idea of "justice"... This isn't the first case where something similar like this has happened. There's been hundreds of people who have spend 17-60+ years in jail for a crime that they didn't commit. What do you think 17 years of your life is worth?.. Could you even put a price on it?..

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Posts
    366
    As far as I am concerned there is no absolute compensation for being imprisoned wrongfully.
    Here
    is a link to a case here where the government tried their best to compensate though.

    It was quite the headlines here and I know members of the family and regardless of the amount of money he recieved, it doesn't make up for the years the family didn't have their father, brother, son. How could anything make up for it?

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Posts
    352
    Well...17 years is LONG time. Hell even a shorter time would be extremely unfair if you're innocent. One way to compensate(if thats really possible) the person monetarily, could be to find out what he was making before incarceration, adjust that for inflation and raises and give it to the person. That should be a start....
    I dont know Remote...you stumped me...
    Me personally, I would like to have the judge removed from office, so he/she cant pull the same thing on some else. As well as lost wages, and be able to buy a house at prices from 17 years ago.
    \"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.\" -- Dom Helder Camara

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Posts
    634
    There's no price to compensate a such error.

    If you have lost the majority of your existence in jail (or an important part), the money will not
    re-give you this time. What importance will have this money if you have nothing really important to do with? You became old, you don't know your family, you forgot pleasures of life and you have probably lost the better moments to be happy.

    And I don't speack of all the traumatisms. No, in fact, your life had been brocken forever, nothing can change it.
    Life is boring. Play NetHack... --more--

  5. #5
    Old Fart
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Posts
    1,658
    Now this is what one would call an 'impossible math problem'. Mahakaal is on the right track, but who is to say the person would have stayed in the same position for 17 years? What about compensation for missed opportunities, which has a value that cannot be quantified? I may draw flames here...but given the traumas, lost time with loved ones, lost opportunities, one should at the very least be 'set for life', and those who wrongfully imprisoned the person should face some sort of punishment themselves, although I could not even begin to imagine how that would be instituted. There should be accountability in some form though.
    Al
    It isn't paranoia when you KNOW they're out to get you...

  6. #6
    AO Soccer Mom debwalin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    2,185
    Just as a side note to this thread, the state of Illinois has suspended the death penalty, because (I think) 6 out of 13 of the inmates on death row there have been proven innocent because of DNA evidence. That puts a whole new angle on it to me. With the law of averages, if almost half of the inmates there were innocent, how many innocent men have been put to death?

    Deb
    Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

  7. #7
    Originally posted here by debwalin
    With the law of averages, if almost half of the inmates there were innocent, how many innocent men have been put to death?

    Deb

    You beat me to it, Deb. I wont bore you with details of how the death penalty is barbaric and a return to the dark ages. I wont bore with details of how Lethal Injection is considered cruel and unusal punishment under International Law. All I'll do is leave you with this link.....

  8. #8
    IMHO, DNA testing is definitely needed before sending someone to death row. No question. That's IMHO.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    4,785
    *****************
    You became old, you don't know your family, you forgot pleasures of life and you have probably lost the better moments to be happy.
    *****************
    sounds allot like working for a living. the man and his family received 10 million it seems rather unfair for a life lost. but up until now, what have the alternatives been, not to put anyone on trial? These people, who are found innocent after being condemned, are the strongest argument yet for the abolition of the death penalty. What new discoveries in the future will free or convict others.

    i hope nobody see this as an argument for mass DNA sampling
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  10. #10
    AO Soccer Mom debwalin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    2,185
    No, I don't see how anyone could see this as an excuse for mass DNA testing, but I do think that everyone in prison who could possibly benefit from DNA testing should have the opportunity to have it done. I think that it is a crime in itself to deny a person that right for any reason. There are those who would say that the gov't. shouldn't pay for DNA testing for some criminal, but they are damn sure paying for them to stay in prison the rest of their lives, innocent or guilty. So I think that DNA testing should be a requirement for all people who are tried for a crime where it is possible.

    Deb
    Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •