What I did say is that the parole board hasn't found any reason to release her and that her illness shouldn't have any bearing on being let out.
Aren't paroles always based on reasons, not actually related to the original crime itself? Like remorse, good behavior etc... Can't illness be included in that list? Illness is again appealing to sentiment. But you can say that it is not connected in any way to the reform of the criminal (if that is the intention of punishment, rather than justice), so it may not be a valid reason after all.
Good points. Our criminal justice system has as a large component of rehabilitation of and compassion for an offender. If not, why not place every offender in prison for life or execute everyone?
Babe, you miss my point. The criminal justic system is government depriving someone of life, liberty of property. That's why the US and state constitutions place restrictions on and make requirements of government when they seek to deprive. The drafters and ratifiers of the Bill of rights recognized what a predator government could be. They left it up to legislators to make laws to protect us against each other. Still, governmental processes pursuant thereto have to be fair and objective and evenly applied or we would all be subject to the whim of government agents and institutions.
Rights for the families of crime victims? What should they be? Why should they be? To assuage their feelings, that's all. The Texas Constitution (Artilce I - see below) contains something like the rights you are talking about (perhaps). Those rights contained therein serve one purpose: to assuage feelings. And the objectivity of the criminal justice system is, therefore, compromised by those rights. What rights would you like to see codified?
A crime victim has the following rights:
(1) the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim's dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process; and
(2) the right to be reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process.
(b) On the request of a crime victim, the crime victim has the following rights:
(1) the right to notification of court proceedings;
(2) the right to be present at all public court proceedings related to the offense, unless the victim is to testify and the court determines that the victim's testimony would be materially affected if the victim hears other testimony at the trial;
(3) the right to confer with a representative of the prosecutor's office;
(4) the right to restitution; and
(5) the right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment, and release of the accused.
