Nils Christie walked on May 27 and this world is poorer for his departure. Why should people on this continent care about the death of a Norwegian criminologist? No reason, I suppose, if we think we’ve really got a handle on that crime thing.

We do not have a handle on crime when we think criminals are really different from us because they are evil but they are really like us because they will respond to positive and negative reinforcement, reward and risk, just exactly as we would. It should be easy to see that one of these propositions is probably untrue. In fact, they both are.

I’ve been in the criminal justice system for over 40 years in every capacity from defendant to judge. I’ve lost count of the number of capital murder cases I’ve touched as a lawyer or a judge. In all of that, I am sure that I’ve met three really sociopathic people who, if I had the power, I would lock up and throw away the key. And I’m aware of one more I have no doubt is a sociopath, sight unseen.

You may reasonably argue that I am mistaken. It’s a bit harder to disbelieve all the research that’s been done on “career criminals” that appears to show it’s not that they don’t perceive risks. They just weigh the risks differently than most of us would. This is, by the way, also true of teenagers, but most of them will get over it.