Poll: Is Madoff's sentence too rough?

esperandote

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Feb 25, 2009
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it would be the same if it was 30 years. Hes not going to live more that a hundred years! (hes 71 according to the article)
 

Eclectic Dreck

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Interesting note - people WERE making money in the pryamid scheme of Madoff's. That's how a pyramid scheme works - each level makes money off the bottom level. If you know when to cut your losses, the only people who lose are the last ones to sign up. What I find fascinating about this process is it demonstrates just how faith based an economy really is. Madoff's customers made money so long as people belived the fund could make money. They question the process and it all falls apart.

It's like a looney tunes cartoon where Daffy walks off a cliff. So long as he doesn't realize his predicament he can carry on without having to pay attention to the laws of gravity, but the moment he realizes what he's done he falls.
 

Radeonx

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Apr 26, 2009
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I don't think its too rough. He ruined the lives of so many people, for his own personal gain.
 

Delmar Wynn

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Squedee said:
They could just say "you're sentenced to die in prison"
that would suffice
Based on the fact they are not publicizing the actual facility he will be visiting for the next 150 years, I believe they already expect that to happen. Just not of natural causes.
 

Lord Beautiful

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Aug 13, 2008
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HyenaThePirate said:
I always hate those sentences...

Anything over 100 years should just automatically be death.
Honestly, I don't get how people can be against the death penalty by claiming "life is precious" while at the same time advocating the absolute WASTE of that so-called "precious" life, which in my opinion is more of a crime. What exactly does anyone learn from a scenario like that?

Why even bother with that sort of sentence? Why not just say "life?"
Maybe our government knows that Vampires exist, or people who live 150 years.
Pretty much this.
 

bodyklok

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Feb 17, 2008
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Firstly, this has been done before [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.121955]. Secondly, the guy did ruins hundreds of peoples lives, so he does deserve a harsh sentence. Maybe the rest of his life is to harsh but frankly thats a matter of opinion. Theres no absolute moral law we can base this off, just our own feelings.

EDIT: That poll should really have a 'Maybe' option.
 

Jharry5

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Nov 1, 2008
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If he's 71, he'll be 221 when his sentence is finished... somehow I doubt he'll see that day. Why not just say life?
That's not to say I think the sentence is too harsh; he ruined lots of people financially. He knew he'd be punished if he was caught. So I think a prison sentence is just what was needed...
 

theSovietConnection

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Jan 14, 2009
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Kwil said:
I tend to believe we should reserve prison for violent offenders. Madoff forced nobody to give their money to him, and the man obviously has some talents, so lets use them.

Set his sentence to an amount of money equal to that stolen plus overhead and then offer his services at a public auction for whoever wants to purchase them. Out of whatever is made he gets welfare amounts, and that's it with the remainder going toward paying off his sentence.

How much do you think one of Madoff's former clients might pay to have him clean out their stables every day?
This is supposed to be a precedent, though. To show anyone thinking of trying a scheme on the scale of Madoff's that no, you won't get away with it, and we're going to make sure you never get to enjoy a dime of that money, or any money I guess, again.
 

Photon987

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May 27, 2009
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Although some of his investors could be frowned upon for being greedy, themselves - looking at the returns he was promising, it is hard not to see that something might have been amiss - he still did take advantage of many innocent people, and ruined them.

I see his sentence as just for what he did.
 

kitsunema

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Apr 16, 2009
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Jharry5 said:
If he's 71, he'll be 221 when his sentence is finished... somehow I doubt he'll see that day. Why not just say life?
That's not to say I think the sentence is too harsh; he ruined lots of people financially. He knew he'd be punished if he was caught. So I think a prison sentence is just what was needed...
xmetatr0nx said:
Eclectic Dreck said:
Interesting note - people WERE making money in the pryamid scheme of Madoff's. That's how a pyramid scheme works - each level makes money off the bottom level. If you know when to cut your losses, the only people who lose are the last ones to sign up. What I find fascinating about this process is it demonstrates just how faith based an economy really is. Madoff's customers made money so long as people belived the fund could make money. They question the process and it all falls apart.

It's like a looney tunes cartoon where Daffy walks off a cliff. So long as he doesn't realize his predicament he can carry on without having to pay attention to the laws of gravity, but the moment he realizes what he's done he falls.
It was a ponzi scheme, slightly different with the similar concepts.
yes i just learned about ponzi scemes vaugely and from the sounds of it that he didnt have the funds to pay back those who want to cash out didnt he promise the customers 110% if they wanted to cash out?
 

Unknower

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Jun 4, 2008
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150 years is a bit silly but he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
 

Martymer

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Mar 17, 2009
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Too harsh. I don't get why some countries give such long sentences. I get life, but I don't get something like 150 years. Nor do I get something like 30 years, even if the person receiving it is young. When he gets out, he's fucked. He's never gonna get a job, never be able to start a family... He might as well have gotten life, because that would be more humane (yet it's considered a worse punishment???). IMO, it should be like, anything over 10 or 15 years -> life.

But, on topic, he knew the law. He chose to break it, knowing what awaited him if he got caught. So yeah, I suppose he does deserve it.

I feel sorry for the kids who's not going to college because of this, but I sort of want to tell the adults that got ripped off "ha-ha", Nelson style. I can't believe people are that fucking dumb! And many have said that banks are insured... So were all of those morons, right? No? Well, then "ha-ha" once again. Still, I do feel sorry for their kids, because they didn't deserve this.
 

The Potato Lord

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Dec 20, 2007
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I wonder if when he dies if they'll keep the body for the remainder of the time? They won't but it would be hilarious if they did.