Yeah--that was the question I left out, yesterday--how did this get on the
list?


At 08:38 AM 9/15/99 -0600, you wrote:
>I am sure I will irritate more than a few folks with these comments.
>
>While it may come as a great surprise to many when you are in another country
>one is subject to their laws and customs. In case you have not noticed other
>venues carry different laws, customs, crime definitions, and punishment.
Many
>Americans seem to think they are somehow above the laws and customs of the
lands
>they visit.  Hence, the very real term  "Ugly American"! And, they really get
>upset when they are prosecuted and imprisoned in a foreign place for small
>violations of law like sedition and treason, drug running, and so on.
These are,
>of course, defined by the country one is in. The ideas of appropriate
>imprisonment  and punishment is decidedly different in other places folks. If
>you don't want to go to prison in another place then don't violate their
laws.
>How is the Berenson case any different than the US incarcerating other
foreign
>nationals for violating our laws? Perhaps we should free some of these people
>and send them back to their own country? Let's see should we send terrorists,
>spies, murderers, rapists, and so on home? Lets see, (now this is said with
>tongue in cheek)  I think we should send Pollard to Israel, the Los Alamos
spy
>back to China, Trade Center bombers to the Mid East, the railway killer to
>Mexico, Noreiga to Panama, and the Cardinal back to the Kremlin, to name a
few.
>I would bet some of you would scream at that!  When in this country one is
>expected to abide by the laws of the land. Unless, of course one is a
diplomat!
>Get real and try to appreciate that the US social milieu is not the only
set of
>rules in the world!
>
>Here is a question. If Berenson had committed the same crime (treason and
>sedition I believe- I may be wrong here) in the US would you want to free her
>from prison?
>
>The comments by some that the world is improperly imprisoning Americans for
>crimes committed in other countries betrays a lack of experience outside
of the
>US and an appreciation for the variety of the human condition.
>
>Now, I want you to notice that I did not say that I agree with other country
>definitions of appropriate crime and punishment. However, I will state that I
>believe other countries have the right to define crime and punishment as they
>see fit within their cultural and social milieu.
>
>Thanks for your time and I expect the flames will fly.
>
>While I think the original post was inappropriate for this list I also think
>that perhaps my response is also inappropriate since it has nothing to do
with
>Historical Archaeology.
>
>Jim Chase
>
>
>I want it to be perfectly clear that these comments are purely my own and
in no
>way represent my employer.
>