Saturday, July 23, 2011

Could Norway Terrorist Get Out Of Prison?

At first glance, you think that the Norway terrorist who killed 98 innocents yesterday would never get out of prison. That would be common sense, at least here in the U.S..
But is it possible that this horrible person can get out jail? It seems like it is a possiblity.
From a study by Hanns von Hofer of Stockholm University, Norway has done away with the death penalty (very long time ago) and life in prison.
From the study: The average length of stay in prison can be estimated to be shortest in Norway and Denmark (ca. 3 months respectively in 2000) and longest in Finland (ca. 7 months; but note Finland's low overall prison population). As regards the number of individuals serving life sentences, on a certain day in the year 2002 there were 16 such 'lifers' in Denmark, 74 in Finland and 106 in Sweden (KOS, 2003:110). There has been a substantial increase in the number of prison
inmates serving life terms in Finland and Sweden over recent years; Norway, on the other hand, abolished life imprisonment in 1981.
http://www.istat.it/istat/eventi/2003/perunasocieta/relazioni/Hofer_rel.pdf

Punishment for murder in Norway: is a murder committed with the intention of taking the life of another, by a person fully sane and aware of what he or she is doing, and having planned the act of murder ahead. Planned murder is punished with up to 21 years of imprisonment. Under special circumstances, like a murder of severe cruelty, or if there is reason to believe the offender may commit murder again, additional years of imprisonment can be given.[1] This usually takes place at a court hearing near the end of the sentence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_(Norway)
So, he will not get life in prison for any of the counts he will be charged with.
Each murder count, a defendant can get a maximum of 21 years, but mandatory parole after serving 2/3 of their sentence.
So, hopefully, in Norway, they can sentence a defendant consecutively instead of concurrently so this terrorist will never see freedom again.
But in case he is not set free, his life in prison will be a walk in the park compared to most prisons in the world.
From Time: Ten years and 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million) in the making, Halden is spread over 75 acres (30 hectares) of gently sloping forest in southeastern Norway. The facility boasts amenities like a sound studio, jogging trails and a freestanding two-bedroom house where inmates can host their families during overnight visits. Unlike many American prisons, the air isn't tinged with the smell of sweat and urine. Instead, the scent of orange sorbet emanates from the "kitchen laboratory" where inmates take cooking courses. "In the Norwegian prison system, there's a focus on human rights and respect," says Are Hoidal, the prison's governor. "We don't see any of this as unusual."
Halden, Norway's second largest prison, with a capacity of 252 inmates, opened on April 8. It embodies the guiding principles of the country's penal system: that repressive prisons do not work and that treating prisoners humanely boosts their chances of reintegrating into society. "When they arrive, many of them are in bad shape," Hoidal says, noting that Halden houses drug dealers, murderers and rapists, among others. "We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people." Countries track recidivism rates differently, but even an imperfect comparison suggests the Norwegian model works. Within two years of their release, 20% of Norway's prisoners end up back in jail. In the U.K. and the U.S., the figure hovers between 50% and 60%. Of course, a low level of criminality gives Norway a massive advantage. Its prison roll lists a mere 3,300, or 69 per 100,000 people, compared with 2.3 million in the U.S., or 753 per 100,000 —the highest rate in the world.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1986002,00.html#ixzz1SzQhq1y6
So, a terrorist murders almost 100 people and he will be given a free ride in the prison system. What's wrong with this picture, but that is Norway's culture, I guess.

2 comments:

  1. I have also shown how powerful lobby groups seek the Who Abolition of the prison Along models to Spain and other European countries: Prison Reform International, Prison Legal News, Human Rights Watch, ACLU, They are generously Funded by Ford Foundation, George Soros Open Society ...
    Portugal, Spain and Norway softer Have penal systems in the world, in fact-These Are the only European Union country clubs have no life That imprisonment.
    There is Not Life in Spain. In Spain, the fanaticism of defenders of the rights of criminals is so great life Imprisonment Opposed That Even When There Is A Possibility of parole. In 1975 the criminal law in Spain Professors Require the Abolition of the death penalty and prohibition of all sentences of more Than 20 years. Currently the maximum penalty Spain is 20 years for first degree murder, if it is to murder the maximum sentence multiple is 25 years howeve Penal Reform in 2003 raises the maximum compliance in a case 40 years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah, the barbarism of certain people in insisting that the government serve as an arm for their own bloodlust and thirst for revenge. Norway's criminal justice system is not supported by instinct - it's supported by data!

    ReplyDelete