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But it costs a million dollars a year to keep an inmate in a California prison, so do you put a chronic car thief in prison for 15 or 20 years? It would be far cheaper to just buy his victims new cars. Someone has to make decisions about which prisoners we are afraid of rather than just angry with and lock up the ones who pose an immediate threat to the public and deal with the others the best we can.
Please do a little research before throwing numbers like those out.
I am of the opinion that capital punishment is preferable to life imprisonment in the case of crimes which merit such severity , a view that I have expounded on elsewhere but will gladly reiterate if requested , which is part of the reason as to why I oppose three strikes laws as commonly defined .
The other part of the reason as to why I oppose three strikes laws as commonly defined is because I do not believe that those who commit crimes meriting such a response deserve " three strikes " , i.e. a murderer or a rapist should not get two more " strikes " to re offend in such a way .
The third reason for my opposition to three strikes laws as commonly defined is due to the oft mentioned enormous financial cost the practice of life imprisonment imposes upon taxpaying society , when far more effective punishments are readily at hand in my view .
Last but not least , three strikes laws which involve crimes that shouldn't be crimes ( like f.ex possessing small amounts of drugs for personal use ) are manifestly immoral IMHO and in the spirit of true liberalism I am very much in favor of phasing out these sorts of laws on grounds of being opposed to three strikes laws as commonly defined as well .
P.S. I'm not necessarily opposed to three strikes laws which do not result in life imprisonment , however I nonetheless lean towards other forms of punishment ( such as the handing out of severe beatings upon due conviction for repeat offenders ) as being far more effective/less costly means of crime reduction than the sanction of mere imprisonment .
I am of the opinion that capital punishment is preferable to life imprisonment in the case of crimes which merit such severity , a view that I have expounded on elsewhere but will gladly reiterate if requested , which is part of the reason as to why I oppose three strikes laws as commonly defined .
The other part of the reason as to why I oppose three strikes laws as commonly defined is because I do not believe that those who commit crimes meriting such a response deserve " three strikes " , i.e. a murderer or a rapist should not get two more " strikes " to re offend in such a way .
The third reason for my opposition to three strikes laws as commonly defined is due to the oft mentioned enormous financial cost the practice of life imprisonment imposes upon taxpaying society , when far more effective punishments are readily at hand in my view .
Last but not least , three strikes laws which involve crimes that shouldn't be crimes ( like f.ex possessing small amounts of drugs for personal use ) are manifestly immoral IMHO and in the spirit of true liberalism I am very much in favor of phasing out these sorts of laws on grounds of being opposed to three strikes laws as commonly defined as well .
P.S. I'm not necessarily opposed to three strikes laws which do not result in life imprisonment , however I nonetheless lean towards other forms of punishment ( such as the handing out of severe beatings upon due conviction for repeat offenders ) as being far more effective/less costly means of crime reduction than the sanction of mere imprisonment .
You know what disturbs me about these discussions advocating the death penalty or life imprisonment, or imposing severe beatings? We have corporations and politicians stealing from us every single day and we do absolutely nothing to them. We have embezzlers who under the guise of being a legitimate business clean out the bank accounts and abscond with the life savings of people who could least afford to lose money.
People are supposedly presumed innocent when arrested, but with enough money you can be released in a few hours, while those who can't afford it can languish in a county jail for years waiting for trial. Wage theft by employers costs workers an estimated $50 billion per year. All robberies, burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts combined cost $14 billion per year. By the way, wage theft is almost never prosecuted it usually results in a civil penalty and a mandate to pay back the stolen money.
And just out of curiosity, how many millionaires have been executed in the US?
Two of those three are misdemeanors and it only applies to adult offenders anyway.
Are you referring to marijuana possession and shoplifting as being misdemeanors? Because, depending on what U.S. state you live in, they can very much be felony offenses.
Depending on number of ounces, whether transporting it, selling it, or cultivating it, marijuana possession can result in a felony offense in the following states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Different states also have different felony thresholds for shoplifting. The states of Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New Mexico have the lowest felony thresholds, ranging from $200 to $500 value in shoplifted items.
Possession over a certain amount, making it obvious it's not for personal use, is charged as intent to distribute.
Dealing is not mere possession, and it is a felony.
If someone is going to steal valuable merchandise, or enough merchandise that it puts it over that limit, then it SHOULD be a felony.
There was a time in my life where losing $500 would mean I couldn't make rent.
No, I would not take kindly to Felon Frank getting a slap on the wrist and going home to his mom's house while I'm left homeless.
Here's a fun fact: People KNOW stealing is illegal.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
Or to paraphrase the bible:
If your hand causeth thou to offend, cut it off. That is better than thou whole body being thrown into prison, for life, for thine third strike.
So a guy steals $1000 worth of merchandise three times for a total of $3,000.00.
The taxpayers are the real victims here with a three strike law. We get to pay $50,000 a year to incarcerate a thirty year old offender for a fifty year life span. That's $1,500,000.
Maybe you can't do cost benefit analysis. I can. I don't want my tax dollars spent on your idea of retribution.
It isn't worth putting someone in jail for life that does something on that order. You cannot see it. Rational people can.
So a guy steals $1000 worth of merchandise three times for a total of $3,000.00.
The taxpayers are the real victims here with a three strike law. We get to pay $50,000 a year to incarcerate a thirty year old offender for a fifty year life span. That's $1,500,000.
Maybe you can't do cost benefit analysis. I can. I don't want my tax dollars spent on your idea of retribution.
It isn't worth putting someone in jail for life that does something on that order. You cannot see it. Rational people can.
If they are not in the can:
How many crimes?
Against whom?
What losses or injuries?
What cost to social order?
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