Crime: Why does anyone even bother?

[Countrywife]

Actually, the quote is:
"A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable"
...which Mahatma Gandhi said included animals

If we are going to quote to support our position, lets get it right. Our most vulnerable are those that are in a position, not of thier choosing, but of thier life. Elderly people grow into thier need, children grow out of thier need, animals are always in need. People in prison chose the actions that get them there. They are not vulnerable, they are there because they prey on the vulnerable. So judge our society not on how we treat those that attack our vulnerable, judge us on how we treat our vulnerable.

 

[chickened]

Does it really matter who shot him? "A liberal is only a liberal untill his/her first mugging"

Robin'sBrood :

Just yesterday afternoon a 19 year old decides to hold up a bank and hold hostages at gunpoint. What does he get? Shot dead. Sad situation, all the way around...

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9093527/

I do wonder if this was more of a "suicide by cop" situation than an actual bank robbery.​

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think people are discussing two different things. One one hand, you have the criminals that murder people. Then you have the people in for fairly minor crimes that can become contributing citizens. As long as you lump all criminals in the same pot, there is no hope for agreement or progress. Not everyone in prison made the front page of the local newspaper.

Our Justice System is based on the rule of law. It is set up that way so people don't often go to prison based on a whim of whoever is in charge. You have to actually prove that they are guilty. The checks and balances in the system are based on our constitutional rights to reduce the chance that an innocent person goes to prison. It is a balancing act. You can set it up so that no innocent person ever goes to prison, but then a lot of guilty people go free. Or you can set it up that no guilty person ever gets off, but then you have a lot of innocent people in prison. The way it is set up now, you have more guilty people getting off than innocent people going to prison. It's not a perfect system, but I kind of prefer it this way since I don't plan to do anything major to get sent to prison.

All the appeals are based on our constitutional rights to try to avoid an innocent person being imprisoned or especially executed. The system is created by people and run by people. There will be mistakes as long as humans are involved. The system tries to minimize those human mistakes.

When we take away the rights of others, we set it up so our rights can be more easily taken away.

 

[chickened]

Ghandi also said he would be a christian if the christians acted like what Christ was. Ghandi also practiced pantheism
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[HHandbasket]

Quote:
People commit crimes because in the long and short of things, even though many criminals get caught, what those programs don't tell you is that there are twice as many they never catch, even with all their forensics, etc. People vanish in plain sight. They hide in big cities and neighborhoods right in the middle of everybody else.

How do I know this? I live in Sacramento's Oak Park area. Ghetto birds (helicopters) are a nightly issue here. We call the cops all the time, and sometimes they do not even come. When our car was broken into and our stereo stolen last August two nights before I was having surgery, DH called the Sacramento County Sheriff who told him to feel free to come in on Monday and fill out a report but they aren't coming out and they aren't investigating it. Law enforcement officers are overworked and understaffed and are, at least here in Sacramento, mostly ineffectual.

We sit here night after night in the ghetto... we hear gunfire within a block or two of our house several times a week, oftentimes not even followed by sirens of any kind. You can call the cops, but unless you know a specific address where the gunfire is coming from, have a description of the individual with the firearm or one of the victims, they don't even come. What are they gonna do, go door to door in the ghetto and knock and say, "Excuse me, is anyone here firing a weapon? A neighbor called us."

People commit crimes because, quite frankly, they get away with it.

Edited for typos.

 

[Countrywife]

And your point would be what? That the quote is not his? Regardless of religous affiliation, yours, mine or Ghandi's, he still said it. I don't know what pathenism is, but it is not my place to question or care about Ghandi's religous stand. The quote was improperly used by the original user. I simply wanted to point that out. I have no questions or opinions as to Ghandi's religion, especially since this was not a religous discussion.

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[KristyHall]

Quote:

You are 100% right! Noone HAS to commit a crime to survive..period. Thats just a lame excuse for being a lazy scum bag...
I also DONT believe that prisioners should have all the luxeries thay have in prison either, they are treated WAY to good...... but thats another subject...

ETA: Just my opinion, of course..

Sorry this is the one I meant to reply to.

I disagree, and i resent the broad term of anyone who has had to make the tough choice between eating and not, a scum bag. There is a difference between dealing drugs, and stealing a sandwich, prostitution for designer bags, and a young girl getting caught up in prostitution when she's been on the streets for thee weeks.
You can not make sweeping generalizations on a complex issue involving crime and poverty.

 

[welsummerchicks]

This has been a fascinating discussion and I'm grateful to hear the many different points of view.

 

[dacjohns]

 

[Countrywife]

Quote:
LOL