Law in Contemporary Society

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RealityVsUnreality 8 - 19 Feb 2009 - Main.LaurenRosenberg
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When Prof. Moglen was discussing the wide chasm separating between what we know about the penal system and what really transpires behind prison doors, it occurred to me that this divergence between reality and unreality certainly isn't unqiue to the criminal "justice" system, and that the failure to bridge that gap often leads to a distorted understanding of human behavior in other contexts as well. In the case of the penal system, we witness some alarming absurdities: the father who thinks jail time will "shape up" his son, the politician who pads his resume with convictions, the prosecutor whose political ties pervert her duties as a public servant, and a community which thinks itself safer despite rising rates of incarceration and crime. These symptoms are no doubt worrisome, but I believe the same social forces operate in other cases as well.
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 On your second point, sometimes roses do grow from concrete, all too often society kills them before they have a chance to grow, but I'm glad you do acknowledge that they can break the cycles of poverty. I think it’s good to strike a balance between acknowledging the circumstances that lead to undesirable behaviors but also to avoid throwing pity parties that are detrimental to an empowered mindset.
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>		-- JamilaMcCoy - 19 Feb 2009
 
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>		I agree that homelessness is not necessarily a result of "laziness" or "indifference" but I'd like to add that a large percentage of America's homeless people have psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia (not to be confused with Multiple Personality Disorder), bipolar disorder, and a whole host of other psychotic illnesses. Many of these individuals have no idea that they are suffering from psychiatric disorders and certainly no idea that medication can vastly improve their lives. One way to solve the homelessness problem is by trying to fix the root of the problem by providing better health care and better homeless facilities that will allow patients to discuss their situations with a psychiatrist.

-- LaurenRosenberg - 19 Feb 2009

 
 
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Revision 8r8 - 19 Feb 2009 - 14:40:26 - LaurenRosenberg
Revision 7r7 - 19 Feb 2009 - 06:12:18 - JamilaMcCoy
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