What is a "tough" criminal sentence? How do you measure
"tough"?
Of course, it's easy to know what "tougher" is-- that's more
than we have now. But how do you measure the toughness of now?
What factors go into it? How do you calculate it?
It's all just feeling, isn't it?
Even judges -- who should be experts on what "tough" is-- admit that they
simply sentence convicted criminals to a time that is longer or shorter than
something else. But I doubt they could make a case for any particular
time being "fair" or "just".
Why not? Why is there no work being
done in this area? Have you ever seen a study, based on real research,
of what an optimal sentence is for a convicted criminal?
The New York Times reported that a teacher at one of the public schools
in the city was still on the job even though he had told a student, while
handing back an assignment, that she did such a good job he could kiss her.
He didn't actually kiss her. Nevertheless, three men in long scarlet
robes appeared and shrieked and lamented and, last report, the teacher was
still hanging from his thumbs and the student was being medicated and the
rest of the class were having their brains scoured with steel wool.
They will all shortly return home to play video games in which they
dismember each other.
Barry Sirmon was a history teacher at Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
On
the third day of school this fall, he joked about two black students, "I
hope I will be able to tell you apart." Mr. Sirmon, reasonably,
insists that he was not making a racist joke-- he was making a joke about
racism.
Damian Fernandez, head of the school, panicked. Obviously, a
terrible, terrible blow to the school's reputation had been inflicted by Mr.
Sirmon's cruel remark. He had to be fired, immediately.
Damian
Fernandez is Latino, and openly gay. He is obviously very sensitive to
the potentially oppressive culture of abuse in Mr. Sirmon's classroom.
All
right -- sarcasm doesn't work here. Sirmon had worked at the
school for ten years. Not everyone liked him because he tended to
speak his mind and he was often sarcastic. The truth is, Fernandez was
afraid of him and used the incident as an excuse to get rid of him and to
intimidate the rest of the staff. In my opinion.
When he was fired,
one parent said, "it wasn't just one thing-- it was a pattern of behavior".
What absolute horseshit! Either he was fired for the other things or
he wasn't. A "pattern of behavior" is the pathetic excuse you offer
when you have failed to make your case and you don't have any actual facts
or information to support your view. It is a contemptible comment
unworthy of an institution with a name that becomes more ridiculous by the
second: Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
If Fernandez had a real
case, he would have documented every incident and his response to the
incident and his directions to Mr. Sirmon to alter his behavior to be in
compliance with school policies and directives. He didn't do that.
He was new to the job and he wanted to show his balls.
I feel like I know
this head, this Fernandez. I'll bet he's had leadership
training. I'll bet he has absolutely no clue about anything to do with
the issues he is judging. He's making an appearance about an
appearance and instead of dealing rationally with a behavior he wants to
change, he chose to bray and screech to demonstrate his authority.
A lot of newly hired managers do that-- seize the first opportunity to prove
that he or she is tough enough for the job, and throw a little fear out
there. They don't bring anyone else into the process. They don't
follow a refined process or carefully consider all sides.
I'll bet Mr.
Fernandez is an asshole or a whiney, timid little wuss. He has no real
understanding of what Mr. Sirmon said, what it means, how much it weighs,
whether it is insulting or not, whether it is racist or not, or whether it
was a joke. Or not.
It's this kind of crap that gives cover to the hysterics on the right who
decry political correctness. The only thing we can trust them to do is
to avoid any actual facts and information.
The world is full of people
with small minds blindly stumbling around trying very hard to look tough and
inflicting damage wherever they go.
