Quote:
Originally Posted by midniteowl
I guess the question should be: where does he belongs if not the prison?
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I think that question comes down to what you believe the purpose for prison is (or ought to be). Punishment, deterrent, or rehabilitation?
Punishment? If that's what you believe prison is for, then the next question would be to determine what you believe is appropriate for an accident or negligence. It's understandable why someone may not see a reason to imprison someone for an accident. It's also easy to see why someone would want to punish someone who caused such loss due to negligence.
Deterrent? If that's what you believe, does sending him to prison act as a deterrent? I would say that it's hard to say that someone not paying attention while driving a truck would change their mind because of a prison sentence when the real deterrent is death and injury (to others and the driver).
Rehabilitation? In that case, there's not much to argue about rehabilitation. If the accident didn't alter the driver's thinking, prison won't.
I think most people have some view of prison being a combination of the above, but if someone was of the view that prison is just for rehabilitation, then I think their argument would be that the driver shouldn't be locked up.