The French Practice Of Preemptive Imprisonment Of Terror Suspects May Exacerbate Terrorism

How The Urge To Punish Islamics For Being Islamic Promotes Terrorism

NPR

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-urge-to-punish-islamics-for-being.html

Alan: In France, where people are routinely imprisoned for associating with terrorists, Islamics comprise 10% of the general population and 50% of the prison population.

"Hawks" believe preemptive imprisonment is an excellent control mechanism.

Is it?

A number of subtle but epochal changes are taking place throughout the developed world. 

One of them is the waning belief that punishment, particularly corporal punishment, has favorable outcome.

Most ecucated people now believe -- or perhaps I should say "see" -- that corporal punishment is counterproductive.

Punishment Rarely Reforms But Instead Tends To Reinforce Wrongdoing

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/punishment-rarely-works-to-reform-but.html

 Many "good Christians" are startled to learn that in The Book of Deuteronomy -- part of the foundational Pentatuch -- Jewish men are not only permitted to kill "rebellious children" but are morally obligated to do so. 

This Old Testament Exhoration Is Egregiously Immoral

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/10/this-old-testament-exhortation-is.html

Such "divinely ordained" nonsense is now held in universal contempt.

The growing belief that corporal punishment is a behavioral leftover from The Age of Moloch -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch -- has even root among an ever-expanding number of "conservatives" who no longer spank their children, largely because it is evident -- from both "scientific finding" and "personal observation" -- that families who spank their kids tend to be brutish and that "the purpose" -- cultural momentum? -- of their brutishnish has no end other than perpetuating (and thereby normalizing) brutishness.

This brutal and brutalizing outcome is not invariable but it occurs much too often for intelligent people to ignore.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect: 

Stupid People Don't Know They're Stupid 

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-dunning-kruger-effect-stupid-dont.html

Are Prisons In France Breeding Grounds For Terrorists?

A general view taken on October 29, 2015 shows a hallway to prison cells at the Fleury-Merogis prison, south of Paris. (Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

The terrorist attacks in France this year have drawn new attention to the background of the extremists – who they are, when and how did they become radicalized, and how many neighborhoods in France have radical jihadists in their midst – and also, what the French judicial system can do to prevent further attacks.

A law, passed in 1996, allows for arresting and jailing based on association with terrorists and possible intent to commit a crime. The architect of the so-called “association de malfaiteurs terroriste” says it is designed to “detect dangerous behavior ahead of time” and to “neutralize people judicially.” The law has led to thousands of arrests and and filled jails with terrorists and non-terrorists alike. The French Minister of Justice has called the prisons a “fertile ground for indoctrination.”

Journalist Scott Sayare followed two Algerian-born men who have been in out of the French prison system – one who seemingly rejects militant jihadism, another who is believed to be connected to terrorist attacks. Sayare wrote about them and the French legal system in “The Ultimate Terrorist Factory,” in the January issue of Harper’s Magazine.

• Read more on the story in Harper’s Magazine (paywall)

Reporter

• Scott Sayare is a journalist based in Paris. He tweets @scottsayare.