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Hans Reiser Gets Sentence of 15-To-Life
mallumax writes "Hans Reiser was today handed a prison sentence of 15-to-life for murdering his wife. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty and led police to his wife's body. His jury trial concluded in April with Reiser's first-degree murder conviction. That carries a 25-to-life term, but the authorities, in a backroom deal, later offered him 15-to-life if he produced his wife's body and waived any rights to appeal his conviction."
Several other readers contributed coverage at SFGate.
And remember that both the conviction and the sentence were handed down by people who know far more about the case than any of us. And 'reasonable doubt' is different than 'complete mathematical certainty.'
Now let's hope some fellow inmate does what needs to be done, and puts an end to this vile piece of garbage.
You are no better than him if you are advocating someone murder him. One murder does not justify another.
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
He is able to write, so technically he can help the community - say by documenting Reiser4, or writing down some of his ideas. True, it's not as good as if he was in the outside world, but it's better than nothing. Personally, I think criminals who have verifiable mental issues would be better in a hospital (with equal confinement and punitive measures, but focussed on curative action). Those who have committed crimes they are unlikely to repeat, possibly including Hans, might be better off in a smaller, more secure, facility intended for rehabilitation. Purely punitive systems should really be restricted to those who are unwilling to change except under duress. And, frankly, I don't think there are many such people. There was a good blog discussion about that on the BBC website recently, with a lot of hostility from prison guards, prison governers and social workers to Victorian-style systems except as a last-resort, and not much more patience for the panoptican idea (a prison where a central warden can see into every cell directly from a central station.-
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
simply because he wrote a file system
are you ready to examine prejudice at work in your mind?
many scowl at black people who defend oj simpson simply out of racial affinity
well now you know, in your mind, is the same process at work
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Because only in the freest country on earth are prison rape, gang beatings, and physical torture at the hands of sadistic miscreants NOT considered cruel and unusual! I have a hard time believing my fellow Americans are any more decent than the prisoners they say they hate when they talk about how so and so deserves to be raped in the showers. People are fucking disgusting.
--Obyron
Finally, the end to a tragic tale. Nobody won.
The kids lost their parents.
Two sets of parents also lost their kids.
A bunch of people lost one of their best friends.
The local community, particularly Russian immigrants, lost a potential doctor.
The Linux community lost a dedicated developer of innovative free software.
The DA's office lost a lot of time and money over the last two years prosecuting this case.
Everyone loses.
I wonder what kind of service Namesys gave to any of its customers and users. Reiser was arrogant and annoying, and that is toward the people with the power to send you to jail forever.
His attonery also says "Hans killed Nina for making a 'cavalier' remark", but he killed her painlessly.
Are anyone that reported defects in the Reiser FS still alive?
Was the level of customer service that you would be killed painlessly as opposed to really bad customer service where customers are tortured before they succumb?
don't cut it off www.mgmbill.org
I have a huge problem with it, and not because of any chance of miscarriage of justice.
'Civilised society is judged on how it treats it's prisoners and it's disabled.'
The US 'corrections' system has a long long way to come yet.
You think rational, intelligent people can't fly into a rage?
If you pile enough on someone and they get angry enough, that intelligence doesn't mean a whole lot, because enraged people aren't rational.
Intelligence also doesn't necessarily keep you from panicking once you realize you've done something that can land you in prison (or the electric chair) for the rest of your life.
Reiser is a sociopathic killer. He punched Nina in the face, and strangled her for "cavalierly" telling him that she intended to continue to bring their son to a doctor for his hearing problems. I don;t think their is any objective way to say "she was a bitch to him". I think he would think any reasonable woman would be a "bitch" to him.
You think rational, intelligent people can't fly into a rage?
Oh of course I think they can. They'd also know when to take a plea bargain that'd land them a lot less jail time when there's a pile of evidence being stacked against them. He may be brilliant with computers, but he's a dunce at crime.
If you pile enough on someone and they get angry enough, that intelligence doesn't mean a whole lot, because enraged people aren't rational.
Rage isn't an emmotion you can sustain continuously for months.
Intelligence also doesn't necessarily keep you from panicking once you realize you've done something that can land you in prison (or the electric chair) for the rest of your life.
Panick too gives way to reason given enough time.
He was an idiot for killing his wife. He was an idiot for doing such a poor job at covering it up. He was an idiot for trying to pass his explanations as plausible. He was an idiot for not taking the plea bargain. Now he's an idiot that will rot in prison for something few can sympathise with. What a waste of a technically sound but socially crippled intellect.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer