Wow

[Goat]

Accused mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik's Norwegian prison cell is more spacious than most New York City apartments.

Read more: Mass killer's Norwegian prison cell has treadmill, computer access | Fox News

[big_swede]

They should just have shoot him to save some tax money. Seriously, alot of the persons he killed were children when he went berzerk on that island. There was a youth colony there.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by big_swede

They should just have shoot him to save some tax money. Seriously, alot of the persons he killed were children when he went berzerk on that island. There was a youth colony there.

Yeah, I remember that on the news.

[gaspers04]

Send him to me...lol pos

[ricka182]

They actually out local advetisements to recruit people to be his friends. Give him "normal" human interaction, part of a total rehabilitation. They won't kill him, no death penalty. Maximum sentence of 21 years. As long as he plays nice, he'll be free at that point.

But I doubt he will. He seemed genuinely disturbed with his thoughts and claims. I say screw their laws, give him to a pack of hungry lions.

[Kyle Aaron]

If they shoot him he becomes a martyr for right wing fruitloops, and he feels vindicated.

If they leave him to rot in prison, he gets forgotten. A person doesn't write 1,000 page manifestos, set off a car bomb and shoot 100 people because he wants to be forgotten. Being irrelevant and pathetic is a much better punishment for him than shooting him.

The maximum sentence is 21 years, but there exist provisions in Swedish law which allow for them to extend the sentence of people considered a danger. It's much the way an Aussie mass killer is coming up for parole in the next year or two, but will never be released.

[Tannhauser]

Just a thought for you.

The Norwegian system, based on this example, seems to advocate a comparatively humane prison system with a focus on rehabilitation and/or prisoner rights.

Would it be better to have a system with longer sentences, less emphasis on rehabilitation, harsher conditions and perhaps executions for the most serious crimes? Leaving aside any questions of ethics or morals, is harsher sentencing a better practical solution to crime.

Here's an interesting comparison of two countries that represent the two systems:

NationMaster - Crime stats: Norway vs United States

EDIT to add: when the comparison chart says 'USA has 747 times more murders by youths in the USA', I've just noticed that this is a straight multiplier, rather than a number per capita There's bound to be more crime in the USA, because it's population is vastly greater than Norway). But that aside, homicide and other violent crime rates per capita are much greater in the US tan Norays, so the comparison still stands.
Of course, there are many differences between Norway and the USA that could account for why crime is worse in the US. Nevertheless, it's interesting that this comparatively lenient treatment of even the worst nutcases- like Brevik - doesn't seem to be encouraging criminals, on the whole.

[Tannhauser]

Here's a piece responding to the Fox News report essentially asking the same question I did:

Norwegian v American justice: Plush and unusual punishment | The Economist

It even uses almost the same phrase Rick did above, about being 'thrown to the lions/thrown in the lion's den.' Left wing vs right wing aside, it does raise as couple of pertinent questions.

The real shocker for me is the recidivism rate for the two countries (this isn't in thatlinked article) - you would think that experiencing a harsher prison would surely mean you wouldn't want to go back there. And yet the recidivism rate in Norway is about 20% whereas it's 52% for the US. Weird.

[MC]

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

The real shocker for me is the recidivism rate for the two countries (this isn't in thatlinked article) - you would think that experiencing a harsher prison would surely mean you wouldn't want to go back there. And yet the recidivism rate in Norway is about 20% whereas it's 52% for the US. Weird.

I don't think America has decided if prison is punishment or rehabilitation or if it is either, depending upon the crime. Until that happens, I wouldn't expect recidivism rates (here) to improve.

[mikethemighty]

This is the trouble with our world today. Prisoners have more than many of us do and it is not right. I would never want to be in prison yet you can understand why so many of them do not want to get out. They have it made.