The Los Angeles prosecutors are very nasty. Especially in Van Nuys where I know a woman & her experience. She was afraid of going to court because she was taken to jail a couple of times in a row. A simple case of petty theft ended up costing over $20k in legal fees, court costs, & other opportunists scamming money from her. Courts don't try to work with the defendants. They have strict rules and breaking a rule means being punished, usually through loss of freedom and/or some heavy fine.
It's difficult to speak out about this because people don't want to pay heed to, nor believe, "criminals". Our society is intolerant & also complicit with these injustices. It's quite often to have measures to have "zero tolerance" and "lock up criminals and throw away the key". There is collateral damage with such measures.
Such measures is tantamount to creating an underclass who can be easily taken advantage of and who have little voice and no sympathy.
Note: She also had some emotional issues. Being put in jail for minor incursions does not help. Instead, it rips apart her life & the lives of those who try to help her.
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@crito - Now you know a bit more about where my "persecution complex" comes from. People who are in a judgmental frame of mind show little restraint when meting out punishment. It's f*cked up & unhealthy. At risk of sounding like I have a victim mentality, there's more.
That's why I'm a proponent of a tolerant society. People make mistakes. People have unhealthy viewpoints. Our society feels a strong desire to blame & punish others. However, judgement only makes things worse for everybody by perpetuating the cycle.
It's far better to encourage health & rehabilitation. But then, there are entrenched interests who want to, or at least have no compunction to, keep the majority of the population down. Thus they encourage a perpetual state of fear.
It's difficult to speak out about this because people don't want to pay heed to, nor believe, "criminals". Our society is intolerant & also complicit with these injustices. It's quite often to have measures to have "zero tolerance" and "lock up criminals and throw away the key". There is collateral damage with such measures.
Such measures is tantamount to creating an underclass who can be easily taken advantage of and who have little voice and no sympathy.
Note: She also had some emotional issues. Being put in jail for minor incursions does not help. Instead, it rips apart her life & the lives of those who try to help her.
---
@crito - Now you know a bit more about where my "persecution complex" comes from. People who are in a judgmental frame of mind show little restraint when meting out punishment. It's f*cked up & unhealthy. At risk of sounding like I have a victim mentality, there's more.
That's why I'm a proponent of a tolerant society. People make mistakes. People have unhealthy viewpoints. Our society feels a strong desire to blame & punish others. However, judgement only makes things worse for everybody by perpetuating the cycle.
It's far better to encourage health & rehabilitation. But then, there are entrenched interests who want to, or at least have no compunction to, keep the majority of the population down. Thus they encourage a perpetual state of fear.