Re: crime and deterrence
Warrl kyree Tale'sedrin (warrl@mail.blarg.net)
Tue, 17 Mar 1998 00:53:48 +0000
> From: Anton Sherwood <dasher@netcom.com>
> I think Charlie means (and I agree) that increasing the severity of
> punishments, as our posturing politicians like to do, is pointless so
> long as the robber is confident that punishment is unlikely. (And
> remember that crooks tend to underestimate the likelihood of getting
> caught, anyway). Rather than jacking up the (nominal) length of
> sentences and building more prisons for the minority who get caught,
> we'd be better off devoting those resources to catching more of the
> crooks.
That, and not wasting prison time and space (or court time and space,
or police time and space) on people who aren't even accused of doing
anything that violates anyone's rights.
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