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Posted: **Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:05 pm**

People in an uproar over a "give blood or go to jail" program for offenders who can't pay.

I'm confused by the outrage.

“What happened is wrong in about 3,000 ways,” said Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, part of New York University. “You’re basically sentencing someone to an invasive procedure that doesn’t benefit them and isn’t protecting the public health.”

Uh...how does going to jail benefit someone? Doesn't NOT going to jail benefit them? Isn't this a phenomenal get out of jail free card? What happens if those folks or ones they love need blood, doesn't it then benefit them? Doesn't it benefit them to help their community? Isn't "protecting the public health" exactly what they're doing?

I get that the procedure is "invasive", but not too many people die from giving blood and I'd think a trip to the pokey is worse than 20 minutes donating blood.

Posted: **Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:37 pm**

According to the article, most of the blood was tossed, benefiting no-one. Not hard to see why when a bunch of the summonses went to homeless people ( > 20% hep C infection rate among homeless).

Posted: **Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:43 pm**

Leisher wrote:Uh...how does going to jail benefit someone? Doesn't NOT going to jail benefit them? Isn't this a phenomenal get out of jail free card? What happens if those folks or ones they love need blood, doesn't it then benefit them? Doesn't it benefit them to help their community? Isn't "protecting the public health" exactly what they're doing?

I get that the procedure is "invasive", but not too many people die from giving blood and I'd think a trip to the pokey is worse than 20 minutes donating blood.

I think you need to look at the offenses these people would have been jailed for. Sounds like a bunch of crap to me. If the government wants more money, raise taxes.

Posted: **Wed Oct 21, 2015 5:09 pm**

Scooped. A judge isn't a dude who's got the authority or knowledge to screen donors. What's more, you're denying the get out of jail free card to people that can't for one medical reason or another. The law doesn't work that way, and this asshole should know better. Additionally, while deals like this seem harmless at face value ... hell, let's even assume it's all done with minimal idiocy (which is an impossibility) ... the more it encourages judges to impose prison sentences when they're not deserved. Because, shit, all you're doing is sentencing them to donate blood.

Posted: **Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:03 pm**

I see it both ways. If it weren't effecting sentencing and was being offered as an honest alternative to whatever, sure. But from the tone this guy was clearly being an ass and giving them worse sentences before giving them this option, which is crap.

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Blood or Jail