Ok, this this guy may not be a 'one off' but her is an abberation.
I don't think it is reasonable to re-organise the entire justice system for one person like this or the handful that may come after. The system has enough flexibility to deal with people like this built in. In part ask yourself this: would you want to be seen as the Norwegian PM who let him out of prison?
As to the proper sentence; there isn't one. The death penalty doesn't bring anybody back, longer jail terms won't make people like this re-think what they did. Hell, even an attempt at restorative justice in cases such as this are probably a waste of time.
He isn't changing, it will never make sense.
By saying, OK 21 years and the option to keep him locked up as we see fit Norway is saying they won't let him redefine justice in their country for him.
Look at what happened with Ian Brady and Myra Hindley (Moors murders.) Those two did appeal after appeal, claimed they'd been in jail for enough time. Claimed remorse and all sorts but the Brits never released them. Hindley is dead now, and I don't think Brady will ever see beyond the prison bars.
What this guy did, yeah, the chances of him being freed? Nah.
What was the cost of that? What was the impact of allowing that (Parole Hearings and appeals) to the families of the people they killed? Is that fair?
Huge. The cost and impact would be huge. But then what price the cost of justice? I think these laws are in place for a good reason, unfortunately there are always going to be the exceptions. The fact that the justice system kept them where they are says enough. It's unfortunate for the families, but what if Hindley HAD been innocent? Would you have wanted her to spend her life in prison for something she hadn't done?
The Moors Murderers were (and still are) HATEDby an entire generation of people in the UK .. keeping them locked up was also to prevent anyone getting into trouble for killing them in turn as soon as they stepped outside the prison. I doubt cost has ever factored into the equation for the authorities.
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