re political atheists keith cco caltech edu keith allan schneider writes mathew mathew mantis co uk writes perhaps we shouldn t imprision people if we could watch them closely instead the cost would probably be similar especially if we just implanted some sort of electronic device why wait until they commit the crime why not implant such devices in potential criminals like communists and atheists sorry i don t follow your reasoning you are proposing to punish people before they commit a crime what justification do you have for this no mathew is proposing a public defence mechanism not treating the electronic device as an impropriety on the wearer what he is saying is that the next step beyond what you propose is the permanent bugging of potential criminals this may not on the surface sound like a bad thing but who defines what a potential criminal is if the government of the day decides that being a member of an opposition party makes you a potential criminal then openly defying the government becomes a lethal practice this is not conducive to a free society mathew is saying that implanting electronic surveillance devices upon people is an impropriety upon that person regardless of what type of crime or what chance of recidivism there is basically you see the criminal justice system as a punishment for the offender and possibly therefore a deterrant to future offenders mathew sees it most probably as a means of rehabilitation for the offender so he was being cynical at you okay jeff
