re: #806 OldLineTexan

By that logic, minimum and maximum sentences are also unjust.

Minimum sentences are the ones made mandatory. Of course I oppose them. There needs to be room for mitigating circumstances.

Maximum sentences in principle, are constructed by imagining the worst possible case and asking what is appropriate for that. It is a different sort of thinking that goes into it because, you already are at the worst, or some place less in any given case.

The question comes down to a notion of how you think justice should work overall. Would you rather be thought of as the hanging judge type - Sharia is a great exammple, or would you rather be the sort who tries to actually be just?

Since no system is ever perfect, would you rather have the system that was harsh to those who did not deserve it, perhaps executes the innocent and perhaps punishes in completely arbitrary manners, or would you rather have the flawed system that sometimes let’s the guilty off a little easier than they deserved or even sometimes lets them go?

At the end of the day, if you believe in things like justice, mercy and personal freedom, this is a no brainer. It is better for society to let 100 guilty go free than to imprison one unjustly.