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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do not consider New York's policy of offering
entering the Armed Forces of the US vice serving prison/jail time the same
as experiencing the Camino. Among other things the standards of the US
Armed Forces may have once readily taken offenders but currently if recruiters
are admitting them it is without knowing their criminal history or they are
doing it against policy. The myth that the US Armed Forces readily takes
offenders is just that...a myth...and it is an insult to both those who serve in
defense of the US; as well as Camino pilgrims to equate offenders of anykind
with others' service to the nation or spiritual/growth intentions. As
for European judicial processes they are different from US policy for admittance
to the Armed Forces. Jane</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=BlaroliaAOL.COM href="mailto:BlaroliaAOL.COM">Rosina Lila</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
href="mailto:GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU">GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July 11, 2003 12:13
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Camino OIKOTEN</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0
face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Hello you all,<BR>For
more than ten years Belgium has applied an "Oikoten" quasi-punitive judicially
approved, whereby young people, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five
years of age, who have been convicted of fairly minor penal
offenses, may be sent to walk the Camino, under suitable supervision, in lieu
of going to prison.<BR>The Belgian authorities report that about 60% of these
"oikoten" are reintroduced into society successfully, and that their
recidivism is less than half that of those who have been
imprisoned.<BR>A plan has been sent to the Spanish parliament to apply the
same system to young first-time offenders in Spain. Reportedly, the
Parliament has accepted the plan for study and possible adoption. <BR>I may
add that here in New York we have a somewhat similar system.
Representing a young, first-time offender, convicted of a not terribly
serious offense, attorneys often request that the young person be given
the option of enlisting in a branch of the armed services in lieu of being
sent to prison. After taking into consideration the totality of
circumstances surrounding the offense, and the character and history of the
young person, our judges often agree. <BR>Warm
regards,<BR>Rosina</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>