Entitled to special treatment all the time

Every day I read or hear something that just floors me, and I had clung to the hope it was only China’s shenanigans that could do that. Today it’s news that MSPs plan to scrap ‘automatic early release’:

Prisoners currently serving under four years are automatically freed half-way through their sentences.

Under the plans, convicted criminals would be required to serve at least half their sentence behind bars but this may be increased to three quarters.

Erm, shouldn’t early release be the EXCEPTION, not the norm? WTF is going on here?

The Scottish Executive’s plans to overhaul sentencing are expected to be passed despite Conservative objections.

Well, then, they see some sense. But wait:

The Conservatives, who originally introduced early release, said the executive’s reforms were not tough enough.

So they were for it before they were against it.

IMHO, if you’ve been convicted of a crime and are sentenced to four years, you do four years. Maybe it’s partly custodial and partly community-based, depending on what the crime was, but you do your time. Where’s the logic in sentencing someone and then immediately eliminating half of their punishment? How did it become law in the first place?!

• 15 Mar 2007