Victims on parole hearing boards?

[El D]

Heard about this on the radio today and it got me thinking - do you think current society punishes the offence itself or the actual crime? It seems to me that the onus of the judicial/legal system is about punishing the breaking of the law that relates to the actual crime, not the act of criminality itself. Although I suppose sentences are often varied according to the actual act I just get a feeling that this is maybe where we need to focus differently. But does punishment then become too emotionally driven?

As regards the above, I think it's a bad idea as it is more about forgiveness from the victim rather than just punishment for the criminal; thoughts / comments welcome.

[Lonnie]

I have to agree with you, because your not only talking about forgiveness, but revenge as well.

The people sitting, ideally, should be impartial.

[Maggie-Mae]

I suppose the judicial system is so complex that each situation has to be dealt with on an indivdual basis. Say for instance burglary, theres burglarly whilst the property is temporarily unoccupied or theres burglary whilst the occupier is there thereby "broadening" the crime as the occupier could get hurt or worse trying to protect their belongings. I suppose like alot of things in life, crime is not that black and white and there are many grey areas. What I have always found quite unbelieveable is that crimes like armed robbery seem sometimes to be taken more seriously and sometimes carry harsher punishments than say child abuse or rape. I believe that it will either be introduced or it is being considered to be introduced, to take into account the comments of the families/friends etc of victims who can put their point across of how a crime, such as murder, has affected them and their families. I think alot of crimes do carry emotional issues not just for the victim but those around them aswell and thats a very real issue that maybe in the past has been too overlooked by the legal system.