Bernie Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison

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Regardless of whether 150 years are really realistic.....it has the same effect: this man won't be free in his life again.

That's justice.

in a perverted Western sense, sure it is, though it doesn't and won't make anybody's life any better.

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It may, if it serves as a deterrent. Not that the marginal benefit of that 150th year was very high.

you're a good man

[© tweed]

Regardless of whether 150 years are really realistic.....it has the same effect: this man won't be free in his life again.

That's justice.

in a perverted Western sense, sure it is, though it doesn't and won't make anybody's life any better.

true enough, but even if you believe that life in prison (150 years) is too harsh....don't you think he deserves some type of punishment?

the idea of putting him in a halfway house and forcing him to work for the SEC appeals to me, and it illustrates another way in which we could handle the criminal justice process, especially for non-violent and extremely intelligent criminals such as Madoff.

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the idea of putting him in a halfway house and forcing him to work for the SEC appeals to me, and it illustrates another way in which we could handle the criminal justice process, especially for non-violent and extremely intelligent criminals such as Madoff.

Don't you think the prospect of that "punishment" would only encourage more sleazy rich guys to try ripping people off? "Even if I get caught, hey, I can just go to work for the government!"

no.  it requires a unique skill set (and some luck) in order to pull off what Madoff did.  when orchestrating and carrying out an elaborate scheme for decades, I doubt 'deterrents' play a major role in the mastermind's thought process.


and, also, most/all assets still would be seized, so 'sleazy rich guys' would at least have to risk losing the 'rich' from their title.