Victimless Crimes Filling Up Prisons.

[Rageaholic]

This article has a list of 23 petty crimes that land people in jail for life

Now these are repeat offenses, but the punishment still doesn't fit the crime. A lot of these "crimes" are just drug offenses. So we can thank the war on drugs for filling more prisons with non violent offenders.

[s_stabeler]

depends on the drug offense, if it's only possession, then certainly they should be in rehab not prison, if they are selling, then it depends ( if it's more like a group all chips in to buy the drugs, i would treat it as possession, if it's a drug dealer, then I would be harsh)

but yeah, nobody needs life in prison, even accounting for repeat offenses, for stealing an $120 coat.

[Andara Bledin]

The cost of the war on drugs to society goes far beyond the billions we've sunk into it for no benefit.

And the most likely indicator that a person will commit crimes is if they're already a felon. So, it's actually increasing crime (beyond the stupidity of making drug use a crime as such), not reducing it.

[smileyeagle1021]

While most of the things on that list are indeed insane to be sentencing people to life in prison for, especially when rehab is a possibility (mainly the drug related ones)... but calling a felon in possession of an illegal firearm a petty crime? Holy Shit As was pointed out, the biggest indicator of whether or not someone will commit a felony is if they are already a felon and we're going to call a known criminal in possession of an illegal weapon petty?

[s_stabeler]

the biggest problem is it's life without parole. To be blunt, life without parole should either be for people who have committed especially heinous crimes, or people who commit serious crimes while out on parole from life with parole.

[wolfie]

but calling a felon in possession of an illegal firearm a petty crime? Holy Shit As was pointed out, the biggest indicator of whether or not someone will commit a felony is if they are already a felon and we're going to call a known criminal in possession of an illegal weapon petty?

Not all felonies are created equal. I realize the law doesn't make this distinction, but who would you consider a greater risk to be in possession of a firearm - someone with numerous misdemeanor assault convictions (gets into a lot of bar brawls), or someone with a nonviolent felony conviction (e.g. used "cloned" bank cards to steal a large amount of money from ATMs)? Bear in mind that in some jurisdictions, texting while driving becomes a felony if it results in a crash where someone is seriously injured.

[hinakiba777]

Shop lifting three belts?!

How does one get a life sentence for shoplifting THREE belts?! Were they designer belts? What were the accused's other offences?! THREE BELTS!

I mean a lot of the crimes listed were still very much undeserving of life in prison, but it's the three belts that has me stunned.

Sport Jerseys, 10 dollars worth of weed, decongestive (I mean how much is "a stash"), Possessing stolen wrenches, etc it really doesn't seem like enough to warrant more than a few additional years jail time. Not Life in Prison.

There are rapists walking free, but the person who shop lifted 3 belts gets life in prison. WITHOUT PAROLE. I just... I don't understand.

[crashhelmet]

For some of these people, they're repeat offenders and are falling victim to their Sate's various three strikes laws.

Wasn't there a guy in California sentenced to life for stealing a pizza like 10-15 years ago?

[Andara Bledin]

I thought it was a sandwich, but it was a pizza. And, yeah, that was back in '95.

Last year, though, we finally got it changed so that only violent offenses would be eligible for life in prison.

Which is still fucking stupid, but better than it had been.

And it actually leads to escalation of crimes. When a person believes that getting caught means life in prison without parole, there's no reason for them to avoid going all the way.

[wolfie]

One thing I find amusing is that during the GWB era, Texas had a "3 strikes" law, and underage drinking was a high-enough level crime to be counted as a "strike". He should have sent his daughters to a Canadian university - no legal issues for underage drinking (already old enough), so they wouldn't get into more trouble than any other boozed-up co-eds.