07 Dec 09
Originally posted by zeeblebotThat's not all the link says! Why did you leave out the bit about the failure of the mental health system?
http://www.podval.org/~sds/jails.html
Why are there so many people in the US jails?
The US jail population as a proportion of the general national population is the largest in the developed world.
Why?
I can think of three explanations:
Socialism
US has too little socialism (welfare etc) to keep the underclass (i.e., the people who do n ...[text shortened]... cing guidelines
US sentencing guidelines are much stricter than in other countries.
...
07 Dec 09
1 edit
Originally posted by sh76There's a segment of population which has adjusted to the fact that it's going to be spending quite a bit of time in jail for stupid reasons, and has decided to use that time as a crime training camp.
That's an interesting article; I'll read it later.
But just as a matter of common sense, how could keeping the criminals in prison for longer NOT reduce crime?
08 Dec 09
1 edit
Okay; I think I see what you're (DrKF) getting at regarding the harsher sentencing rules perhaps not being a deterrent on others.
But the point of incarceration is not just deterrence. It is incapacitation also. If harsher sentencing decreases crime through incapacitation rather than deterrence, does it really matter?
There are good reasons to reduce sentence lengths and lighten punishments in general. But, I don't think that the fact that these sentences work to reduce crime through incapacitation rather than deterrence is one of them.
08 Dec 09
Originally posted by zeeblebotPrivatised jails.
http://www.podval.org/~sds/jails.html
Why are there so many people in the US jails?
The US jail population as a proportion of the general national population is the largest in the developed world.
Why?
I can think of three explanations:
Socialism
US has too little socialism (welfare etc) to keep the underclass (i.e., the people who do n ...[text shortened]... cing guidelines
US sentencing guidelines are much stricter than in other countries.
...
If you're running prison for a profit (like using them as back-offices for banks and plane-companies), justice very quickly comes second to pleasing share holders.
That and you're locking away school kids for having food fights and adult women for smoking marijuana...
08 Dec 09
Originally posted by sh76i think i did, but probably i was adding the context that DrK likely would not have posted the opposite.
[b]Between 1991 and 1998, those states that increased incarceration at rates that were less than the national average experienced a larger decline in crime rates than those states that increased incarceration at rates higher than the national average.
Okay, contest: Who was able to read that sentence and understand it the first time through? Whoever was wins a virtual Snapple. 😉[/b]