[ldargin]

I'm glad to see he made that request, even from jail. Expressing magnanimity is a bit of freedom, in and of itself.

[avar]

Reiser's seeking eventual parole.

He may be expressing magnanimity, but a smart psychopath in his situation would act similarly, given the incentives involved.

[nullc]

One smart and controlled enough to do that probably won't kill anyone else at least, I guess?

[hammyhavoc]

Is he not in there to be punished though?

[polski-g]

No. Prison exists for incapacitation. It is to protect society from miscreants. If punishment and/or rehabilitation occurs, that is nice, but it is not it's purpose.

[Marsymars]

To clarify, and to make it easier for anyone who wants to do further reading, I'll note that being in prison is punishment, and the purposes of punishment are variously deemed to be retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation.

(And prison only as incapacitation doesn't really make any sense given that prison terms differ based on the crime.)

[marssaxman]

Prisons have a variety of purposes, depending on who you ask.

[rz2k]

Are you making a specific distinction between prisons and penitentiaries?