ok, by reading this (and by reading the comparison between me and a republican :lol: ) i realize that probably i didn't express myself the right way.... as Gerd says is quite tough when u're a non native english speaker :roll:
Well, getting to the point. Repression alone is nothing It is just one of the four functions of a criminal system.
During my first diritto penale lesson (criminal law) the professor told us something like this:
Gentlemen, if u have the chance to have a chat with a culprit.... and u'll have a lot of chances in your professional life.... u will ALWAYS discover that each crime has 2 victims: the "victim" and the guilty. (he thought that human will is always addressed to "the good", and i think it too). But one of theese 2 "victims" violated a rule and we have to consider this. Our actions are always a consequence of our personal story, of our lives. but as lawyers, u have to understand that a state has to balance a lot of opposite needs.
- community security
- fair trials (constitutional guarantees)
- the respect of the rule that "rules must be respected" (there's no state otherwise)
talking about agent Raciti's example, we have to balance.
the need of finding the guilty;
the need to punish his actions
the need to "recuperate this guy to the civil society"
the need of giving "satisfaction" to agent Raciti's family, friends and the whole catania community ("satisfaction" is such a bad and unappropriate word, but my english doesn't allows me to find the correct word).
when a parent punish his son's bad attitude he has to teach him why he needs to be punished (moral suasion, the fourth function i talked about before) so that he won't do it again (the second function: reeducating the guilty).
a state is like a parent. it has to establish some rules (to allow people to live togheter in peace) and it has to control that no one of his "sons" violate theese rules.
repression (the punishment) is alway the extreme measure. it comes when a "parent" fails (when his son violate the rule, he shows that he didn't understand the importance of that rule, so it's mostly a parent's fault).
but it's a measure that has to be taken, coz the "repression" (what a bad word, btw) gives a "meaning" to the rule itself.
but when repression doesn't walks along with reeducation, is useless .And that's our real problem. to punish is easy. Reeducating is the real challenge. It costs a hard work and care (dialogue)for a parent...... it costs a lot of money for a state.
and that's why we (as parents, as states) often don't do it.
this obviously brings to bad results. and sometimes we might think that the repression is the problem (that it doesn't work, that it isn't necessary, as gerd says)). but this is not correct. the real problem is that when we punish, we have also to teach something. Repression is not useless; it becomes useless when it's not followed by reeducation.
do u wanna know why ultras hate so much police forces? because the never understood the real meaning of a rule. if u don't understand the meaning of a rule, u don't understand neither why u have to respect it. so u get punished. at this point someone has to teach u why u were punished, someone has to teach u the meaning of the rule u violated, wich needs that rule protects. if nobody does this, then repression brings just to one way: anger, frustration. and this usually brings this people to violate the rule once again, one they have the chance. that's our weak point. it's education, not repression.
usually that's a wise solution. here in italy we have a lot of specific disciplines for young offenders ( for drug addicted, lil criminals, ultras....). Sometimes it works. but with ultras it didn't work (after 15 years of application, i can be quite sure of this).
there's still one other thing i have to say. each population has his needs. needs always depend by your previous story.
usa might need a softer treatment in certain cases. but this depends by their situation.
in usa the application of the law is very rigid and efficient.
In italy the situation is totally different. and i'll explain why.
in usa the criminal persecution is not obligatory. the pubblic attorney may choose which crimes to persecute, which criminals to punish. pubblic attorneys are elected by people; they have a "program" where they say on which kind of crimes they will focus.
this might seems quite unfair for a civil country, but this way usa police, pubblic offence office and courts are really efficient.
in italy instead, the criminal persecution is absolutely obligatory. pubblic attorneys aren't elected, they have no "programs", coz they just can't choose not to persecute a criminal. they have to react to every law violation.
this might seems more democratic, but it actually brings to bad results. our courts are so full of work, they just can't get the whole job done.
it happens quite often that a criminal doesn't spend not even a day in prison, just because prescription terms expire before the trial start.
If i kill someone today, my trial may start NEXT YEAR and end in 4 years. this cause our courts are full of work, of precedent cases.
as u will understand, this has an influence on law application; our justice is too slow, and italian people consider this as one of our most important problems. When they see a killer free coz prescription terms expired, they feel like law was not applied (and, in the end, that's true).
finally, as u can see, a need always borns from your story, from your situation. usa's situation is quite different, so they have different (i'd say opposite) needs, different (opposite) problems.
p.s. i forgot to say the most important thing:
i absolutely disagree with theese people, mate. each situation must be faced with specific, adeguate measures. Parole, probation and social work are essential "tools" in every civil criminal law system. What i meant to say is that, in this case (JUST in this case), theese measures aren't effective, and it's not just my opinion. it's a fact showed by 15 years of application of theese tools in ultras trials.
as i told before, italy criminal law system is mostly influenced by illuministic principles...... and i'm very proud of it
@ Gerd: your work is great. U got to be very proud of it :applause: :applause:
). believe me mate, his theories are illuminating... u won't be disappointed 
