Dear Paul,

«I think it is incumbent on the judge to apply a custodial sentence, if for no other reason than satisfying community expectations for these sorts of crimes.»

Fine with me because I anyway am not invested in being counted as part of the "community".

Who exactly would this "community" consist of? How does one become admitted to it? Is it a requisite to be loud and cruel?

The only dishonest claim would be to simultaneously consider me as part of this "community" AND say that this community wants (and is even willing to pay dearly for) to incarcerate old and no-longer harmful people as punishment for things they might have done decades ago.

For the record, I harbour no expectations of the kind whatsoever. Prison is an horrendous place and wanting people to be locked up in there is pure sadism. Nobody should ever be thrown in jail unless they pose an imminent danger to others and absolutely no other solution is available.

Yuyutsu,

We've had a legal process. Due process. A trial.
A jury has rendered a decision. An appeal has been
lodged on behalf of the Cardinal. And we shall have
to wait and see what the result will be. Whether
the Cardinal stays in jail or is set free is a
decision that is going to be made by the Appeals
Court. It is something over which none of us
have any control.

Dear Foxy,

I am quite aware, nor is it news for me, that none of us has any control over what the state does.

Nevertheless, we [still?] have these pages where we can express our views and declare our moral position, even as we know that nothing would be done about it.

And so I did, stating that nobody ought to be thrown in jail, neither the guilty nor the innocent, neither before an appeal nor after.

Yuyutsu,

"Never let your sense of morals get in the way
of doing what's right."
(Isaac Asimov).

Foxy "Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."

** The problem is who determines what is right. **

** Different people sometimes a different view of what is morally correct. **

Corrected
** Different people sometimes have a different view of what is morally correct. **