CNN: Police spokesman Henning Holtaas told CNN that the suspect has been charged with two acts of terror, one for the bombing and one for the mass shooting.
In Norway, the maximum sentence on such a charge is 21 years. However, if the court deems that a person could be a future threat, then they can be sentenced to "preventative detention," Holtaas said. Under that type of sentence, a person would serve the maximum sentence of 21 years and then the court could assess an extension if the person was still deemed a threat, he said.
While reading this article on the tragedy in Norway, these few sentences jumped out at me for complicated reasons. What does it mean to be a society that treats criminals with justice and not hatred, that offers rehabilitation and not pure condemnation? At least for myself, when I think about this sort of change in our system, I think about low level offenders, petty crime, minor drug offenses, etc. I don't think about rehabilitation and forgiveness for the monster who goes out and shoots and kills over sixty children in the deranged name of Jesus Christ. For that guy, sitting in a cell for the rest of his life does not seem like justice enough.
And so reading about this maximum 21 year sentence (with the possibility of a court assessed extension), was shocking to me. 21 years?! By the time a new born baby is old enough to go to a bar, this dude could be in there having a drink?
I wonder if you feel my conflict here too. Trying to quantify appropriate amounts of justice in relation to forgiveness and compassion seems possible for the pot head, but I don't know about the murderer.
-Tim
-Tim
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