Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?

[George K]

Is premeditated murder the same as a financial crime?

https://reason.com/2024/09/26/felony-folklore/?utm_campaign=reason_brand&utm_content=&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=image

[Jolly]

No, it's not. Furthermore, when you've paid your debt to society, you should have the rights and privileges of any other citizen.

[Axtremus]

@Jolly said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

... when you've paid your debt to society, you should have the rights and privileges of any other citizen.

Including voting rights, something the GOP tend to resist acknowledging.

We can also discuss things like "sexual predator registries," "no fly lists," bar from practicing certain professions, bar from being an officer of a publicly listed corporation, etc. These things linger long after a convicted criminal has served his/her sentence, and may or may not be a matter of "rights" (as opposed to "privileges" or "risk management").

[blondie]

Ya know, reading, hearing of people bankrupting others, financial fraud, digital crime, exploitation, especially of old folks, makes me mad.. Thinking of these felons in prison, in heated comfort, with paid medical+dental+eye care, eating 3 meals a day, no matter for how long their sentences are, while innocent couples end up living out their few final years after losing homes, savings, dependent on food banks, going without benefits, makes my blood boil.

[Jolly]

You have a good point, but I promise you, you don't want to be in prison down here.

[Jolly]

Sexual predator rabbit hole...

I remember well a case from decades ago... A newly minted schoolteacher, fresh out if college, got a job teaching in a public high school. One of his students was a sixteen year-old girl, who flirted with him. One thing led to another, as she became bolder and he was stupid enough not to vigorously discourage it.

Eventually, they engaged in several sexual encounters over a period of a few months. Of course, the affair came to light and he was arrested, charged and convicted. IIRC correctly, he spent three years in prison, before parole.

I remember parts of his post-prison interview. Yes, he was quite aware of his crime and how he had violated public trust in him and his profession. Yes, he understood he could never work around minors again.

His argument?

The girl initiated the sequence of events. It was acknowledged in court she had pursued him. He was 23, she was 16, and their ages were not vastly different. Any act was consensual.

His point was that as a sex offender, he was on the same list and treated the same way, as a person who had forcibly raped a woman or who trafficked in child pornography. He felt there should be some mechanism within the law, that differentiated the levels of crime within the umbrella of sex offender.

Did he have a point?

[Wim]

Maybe...
My brother was 23 when he met his wife for the first time. She was 16. He was a teacher but she was not one of his students. They're still together after 40 years.
Whatever happened between them was consensual.
Legally speaking you could have called him a pedophile

So, yes, I do understand this guys' reasoning.

[George K]

[jon-nyc]

Now show us SE Asia.

[Jolly]

@Wim said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

Maybe...
My brother was 23 when he met his wife for the first time. She was 16. He was a teacher but she was not one of his students. They're still together after 40 years.
Whatever happened between them was consensual.
Legally speaking you could have called him a pedophile

So, yes, I do understand this guys' reasoning.

My first cousin met his wife his first year teaching high school. His wife was a senior and drop dead gorgeous.

He didn't ask her out on a date until the fall after she graduated. They still laugh about her messing up on their first date, and calling him Mr. ___.

They married when she was 19, in 1968. If my cipherin' is right that's 56 years. That would make her 75.

She's still drop dead gorgeous. Seriously, if somebody said she was 60 years-old. you'd nod your head yes. Fair complexion, bright green eyes and (now I'm sure it's colored) auburn hair.

Her daughter is Ford model agency quality pretty, but she looks more like her father. Tall (6'), willowy, darker complexion, wavy black hair, muscadine eyes. But she has her mother's perfect proportions and her mother's cheekbones.

[LuFins Dad]

@jon-nyc said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

Now show us SE Asia.

Planning a trip?

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

Now show us SE Asia.

[LuFins Dad]

@George-K said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

@jon-nyc said in Is it time to reconsider what is a felony?:

Now show us SE Asia.

So Jon’s flatly in Thailand and the Philippines, but should skip Indonesia?