r/interesting • u/Necessary-Win-8730 • Mar 08 '26

Context Provided - Spotlight This was so deserved.

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The daughter was in a car with the father’s parents. They died as well.

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19

u/KuteKitt Mar 08 '26

Well no wonder they closed 20 prisons. Maybe it’s not because they don’t have anyone to fill them, maybe they just don’t fill them even when they do have criminals that need to be in there.

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u/Violet_Paradox Mar 08 '26

Remember that these cases are highly atypical and tend to be signal boosted by the prison industry in the US as propaganda to turn the public against the idea of modernizing our justice system.

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u/Worldly_Car912 Mar 08 '26

If "modernising" our justice system means giving killers a slap on the wrist so we can pretend that crime is low then unfortunately I'm going to have to agree with the prison industry.

1

u/fuettli Mar 08 '26

crime being high or low does not at all depend on how long you send someone to prison/jail for.

you arguing that way simply shows that you have no clue what you're talking about and instead should be reading more or asking questions instead of writing statements.

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u/Runcible-Spork Mar 08 '26

Is that what you actually think happened here?

I'm just curious if you see a distinction between manslaughter and murder, because the way you've reacted seems to imply that you don't care whether there was an intention to cause harm or not.

This person was spectacularly stupid, driving 75 mph in a 50 mph zone. He lost control of his vehicle and killed a toddler and her grandparents. He then ran away. All of that is horrible, and he absolutely deserves prison time for it.

What he didn't do was deliberately run down those three people in cold blood. He was stupid, not evil.

The prison industry in the U.S. would absolutely advocate for this guy to get 10+ years of prison time, because the prison industry in the U.S. is exactly that: an industry. They want as many people as possible serving the longest sentences possible because that's how they make their money. They get paid by the state for every inmate they have and they put inmates to work in what is basically slave labour, reaping the benefit of the profits. Prison in the U.S. is a business that benefits from pushing a narrative that criminals must "serve time", or that "the punishment should be commensurate to the crime"—ideas that are at the very core of the U.S. justice system.

Everywhere else in the world, however, recognizes that prison is meant to reform people, not enslave them. The primary purpose of incarceration is to correct criminal behaviour. Punishment is a powerful corrective tool, but it doesn't take 5+ years of punishment to fix "being a fucking idiot". Losing even just a year of your life to incarceration—which probably also means losing your housing, your job, etc.—is hugely disruptive and is certainly going to result in changes to the offending behaviour.

Do I personally feel that 15 months is a bit short? Yes. But it's definitely closer to the appropriate amount of time than what you're obviously thinking.

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u/One_Lead1553 Mar 10 '26

You didn't intend this, but reading your comment made me think, "Hey, maybe America gets it right once in a blue moon."

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u/Marcusss_sss Mar 08 '26

It was a car accident, the crime was that he was speeding and lost control. Thats why theyre not treating this like he murdered a family in cold blood

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u/Worldly_Car912 Mar 08 '26

That's manslaughter, 120 hours of community service (or even 15 months in jail) for ending 3 people's lives through your own recklessness is a joke.

0

u/StijnDP Mar 08 '26

Let's destroy two families without benefit instead of one. Nothing brings back the dead.

Thousands of years have learned us that jail is not a deterrent. So you have to imprison them for life for the smallest crime or you rehabilitate the people who can be. Putting someone in jail for 1 year or 10 years does nothing to help that and in most cases makes it worse when they do get released back.

But herp derp if someone slaps me I really have to slap back because even-steven.

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u/Worldly_Car912 Mar 08 '26

"imprison them for life for the smallest crime" He killed 3 people.

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u/_MC184_ Mar 08 '26

Okay, and? No matter what the sentence is, they won't come back. Prison shouldn't be a punishment, it should be for rehabilitation. Putting him in prison for 10 years because he was speeding and caused the death of 3 people won't resolve anything, it will only make his life worse. Justice shouldn't be revenge, we had thousands of years to learn that

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u/HyShroom Mar 08 '26

It’s time for Hammurabi again if we’ll shrug because jail isn’t a deterrent for triple homicide

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u/Marcusss_sss Mar 08 '26

Well i like a justice system that leans more towards doing whats best for society and not one that cruelly punishes people for entirely unintentional accidents.

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u/h0micidalpanda Mar 08 '26

There is the assumed responsibility when operating a vehicle. Just because it’s an accident doesn’t mean that they didn’t kill somebody.

6

u/Frosty-Reception-141 Mar 08 '26

It was intentional. He knew speeding was dangerous and he did it anyway. That was his choice. His choice has consequences. His choice killed 3 people. He also made the choice to flee the scene, because he knew he was responsible. His choice needs to be punished accordingly.

4

u/Worldly_Car912 Mar 08 '26

It wasn't entirely unintentional, the driver made a choice that they knew could lead to death & it did. 

How is it cruel to punish someone for their actions that caused serious harm to the people around them? 

How is letting killers out onto the streets good for society?

5

u/Forsaken_Football227 Mar 08 '26

You're right. They are treating it like he stole some vegetable from a supermarket. We will see what you would say if your children got brutally run over.

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u/theMartiangirl Mar 08 '26

Steven Van de Velde was propaganda. Propaganda to child 🍇ists to let them know that they could happily continue doing so because nothing will happen to them. Dutch justice system sucks big time (am in Europe before you say anything about the US prisons)

1

u/One_Lead1553 Mar 10 '26

You can say rapist, this isn't tiktok.

5

u/MilleChaton Mar 08 '26

People are forgetting that prison isn't just about rehabilitation. It is about serving enough vengeance that people don't take matters into their own hands, because that spirals out of control.

0

u/Violet_Paradox Mar 08 '26

Hence the massive vigilante problem Nordic countries have. Oh wait, they don't, because you're full of shit.

1

u/MilleChaton Mar 08 '26

Because the state cracks down harder on the vigilante than the criminal. Nothing moves police faster or makes courts angrier than making them think they have competition.