>I object to something totally different, namely intellectuals trying
>to turn prisoners into martyrs
>and folk heroes. They really irk me, because I see it as an act of
>passive aggression and uppity snobbery.
Ok. You've said this many times. I think we get it. What I don't get is why you keep repeating it here. I can't think of anyone on the list who does what you're complaining about. The other day there was a fairly long thread about Tony Soprano and no one was turning him into a folk hero. I certainly have no illusions that there is no one out there who shouldn't be taken out of circulation. On the other hand, I'm a staff investigator working for a firm specializing in criminal defense, particularly sentencing mitigation, so I do have some informed opinions about serious problems with our criminal justice system.
But every time this topic comes up you jump on this hobby horse and dialog becomes stymied by your fulminations about uppity snobbery and the like. Soon after the conversation just peters out. That's something that irks me.