On the irony of torture and punishment

If this doesn’t throw into relief the inequality in the justice department towards criminals and their crimes, I dunno what does. Get this: a group of five people in Glendale, California, are being accused of committing “felony torture” against two loan-modification agents whom they believe defrauded them.

The couple, Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee, and three other people are accused of luring their two victims to an office where the men were tied up, held for hours and beaten, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney said.

Police were called after one of the victims managed to escape, said the spokeswoman, Shiara Davila-Morales. The incident occurred on Wednesday in the town of Glendale, just north of Los Angeles. Weston, Parmelee and the three other defendants each were charged with two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed against them.

Now, here’s the harsh sentences they face:

Each count of felony torture, defined as inflicting "great bodily injury" for the purpose of "revenge, extortion, persuasion and for a sadistic purpose," carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Defense lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

Now, I have nothing against these criminals rotting in jail for a long time for their vicious acts (though I do think a life sentence is a bit much – maybe rather 30–50 years or so). But still, lemme get this straight: if you’re a civilian and you lock some people up in a room and beat them for a few hours, you get charged with torture and face up to a lifetime in jail.

Whereas, if you’re a government official and you submit criminals to hundreds of sessions of waterboarding, slam them into walls, manhandle and abuse them, play on their phobias, keep them awake for days and days on end, subject them to hypothermia, and etc. … then you don’t even get charged with torture, and much less do you pay for it.

Is it just me, or does this picture seem horribly lopsided, here?

(via Dispatches From the Culture Wars)