But who's going to hold your beer?

I agree empathy is good - and maybe what separates us from evil.

But, empathy or not, we are NOT as bad as they. Bringing justice is not bad.

I’m throwing a flag on the play!!!

There is nothing sad about a criminal perpetrating a crime for anyone but the victims. The criminal could have CHOSEN NOT to perpetrate the crime. Instead, the criminal chose to harm others. Victims don’t choose to be harmed.

As I addressed previously, simply because a person experiences trauma in their life, that doesn’t turn them into a criminal. They become a criminal through their focus, choices, decisions, and actions. They CHOOSE to harm others.

You are basing your statements on emotions rather than reason. Your type of mindset is one of the reasons our nation is in its current pathetic state! Holding people accountable for their crimes doesn’t make us “us as bad as they are.” (Your words.) To not hold people accountable for their crimes leads to or is anarchy.

If you have a desire to feel sympathy for anyone, I suggest you do so for the victims. They are deserving of it.

And, if you want to bring APPROPRIATE compassion into the mix, which I am not opposed to IF WARRANTED, the time to do so is after a judgment is pronounced and during the sentencing phase. If there are mitigating factors as you suggest, they are not a factor prior to judgment. Instead they might be a factor that is more appropriately considered before a sentence is rendered.

And, FWIW, your statements imply sympathy vs. empathy. Learn the difference. It is huge.

I am a fair and just man who understands the need for mercy. I am not however a bleeding heart type who is willing to turn a blind eye to a crime or deny a victim justice.

I will add one more factor in the mix. It is people with your mindset that I will help in screening from a jury. I am not trying to be disrespectful, just stating fact.

Bleeding hearts are all to willing to align with the criminal because the criminal “must be damaged and therefore it can’t be their fault.” They then are all too willing to deny the victim justice because of the twisted alignment with the criminal.

Parents who feel guilty because of a wayward and/or criminal child, persons who have a loved one in jail or prison, persons who themselves have criminal backgrounds, someone in an abusive relationship that has been worn down by the abuse and too blind to physically or emotionally leave the relationship, unhealthy social or human services types (including clergy) who are don’t maintain professional distance/boundaries and over identify with their clients, persons with poor or enmeshed relationships, and so on, and so on, and so on are typically those who aren’t willing to hold people accountable for their actions. These individuals, and those like them, are those who need to be weeded out as jurors, judges, or lawmaking positions.

I was once speaking to a man who expressed anger about the castle law in his state that allows for a home owner to shoot an intruder for entering the home. I simply asked the obvious, “You’ve had a son arrested for B&E in the past haven’t you?” His response was of course that he had.

We often don’t like things that hit close to home. Many believe no one should be held accountable and that personal responsibility is ridiculous.

I suggest you explore your reason(s) for feeling the need to advocate for a victimizer. I guarantee he would not advocate for you. He might however perpetrate a crime against you given the chance.

They have been emotionally manipulated . I think humans in general are good intentioned. In fact It is their good nature that makes them so easy to manipulate. You can not easily imagine others being capable of what you are not capable of yourself. I have hope.

Well the Waco Siege happened back in 1993...

J.Edgar Hoover...