The three strikes laws didn’t started getting enacted in 1993. I recall some stories about having to early release some inmates to make room for 3 strike convictions.
Your 60% number is totally wrong. Wikipedia said that 60% are in prison for violent crimes. Wikipedia stated that 20% are in state prisons for drug crimes and that the percentage in Federal prisons is higher. The tendency to actually put people in jail for simple possession has decreased over time, as we have found better uses for our prison cells. The people I’ve known that convicted just got probation. Some states have actually decriminalized simple possession for marijuana.
It occurred to me that there might be a way to compare the prison incarceration rates in different in different counties by normalizing to the size of the criminal population. I figure if I compare the rates of people on probation to those in prison or jail that might be a useful comparison.
The pro/p+j ratio the U.S. peaked at 2.7 in 1985 and has gradually decreased to 1.8, which it has been holding at for the last three years. That indicates that the U.S has become more likely to incarcerate criminals, but it hasn’t been a massive increase.
Yes I did see that. Is it you position that putting more people in prison causes a fear of crime?
If you read what I posted later, so will will see where I pointed out that calling a prison population too high is absurd. The question is whether the prisons are sized to their criminal population. Low crime countries should need a lot less prison cells than high crime counties.
It is unfortunate that England, that used to have reputation as a safe country to live in, has started to look more and more like A Clockwork Orange was a documentary rather than a SF novel.
So my book offering is sensationalist, because the issues it raises makes you uncomfortable, is that it?
To be fair, I haven’t read Professor Agustin’s book, so I’ll withhold comment. I hope you have read Mr. Skinner’s book before passing such judgement on it as you did. It certainly didn’t strike me as sensationalist, especially since he criticizes certain so-called rescue operations for focussing on the sex-trafficking trade, instead of other places where slavery exists.
My point is legal prostitution is no basis for judging the amount of freedom one has in a certain country.
But we don’t do that to you. If you come to the UK, our government won’t take your fingerprints upon entry.
As for “foreign tourist visiting the US raises a red flag” - I doubt that very much. It is, and has always been, extraordinarily common behaviour. Millions do it every year (and vice versa).
I’m with you on this one candyman74 - it’s insane that we’re being educated about our country by someone else situated in a different country via a right-leaning newspaper from our own.
I really should be going to work but I’m afraid to leave my home. :rolleyes: indeed.
They do ? I thought it was the other way 'round. All right then, point retracted - I was fixated on that 60% fed number.
Grmbl. As I said, I was in a rush. Point retracted too.
I wouldn’t think our slaps on the wrists count as arrests though - I admit I’m not sure how policemen make their stats, but I would assume one would have to put someone under arrest and at least bring them to the station to be allowed to put a little dot in the “arrests” column. The fine might, since there’s a paper trace.
Else beat cops would be coming back to the station claiming they made eleventy billion arrests and you can write that down, sir ! Only there’s no names and no proof whatsoever.
Fair enough! Though I’d mention that no visas are involved here - the US and most of Western Europe is part of the visa waiver program. That refers to the visa application process (which doesn’t apply to you or me), not to point-of-entry data collection.
I know! I woke up this morning and was going to go to work as usual. But then I remembered some guy on the intrawebs had told me I was afraid to leave my own home. I don’t know what to do now!
He’s referring to England, apparently. I know I’m afraid to leave the safety of Scotland. Any time I get to Gretna Green, the distant sound of rioting, gunfire and general anarchy terrifies me.
No. It is your position that people in England “are afraid to leave their homes” because the UK doesn’t imprison enough people.
Your citation essentially disproves an essential assumption of your theory - that the UK doesn’t put people in prison. It does, and at a higher rate than the rest of Europe.
The question is whether they put enough people in prison. If you have weak social norms, you are going have more habitual offenders that need to isolated from the general public.
A right-leaning newspaper quoting a survey by the Home Office. If you think the survey is wrong, then perhaps you address that, instead of making ad hominem attacks on the messenger.
BTW, here is an article in the Guardian, if you prefer:
The web site sounds pretty cool. It lets you actually lets you check the crime rate for your neighborhood. 18 million hits per hour sounds excessive though. Are people checking it like weather report? Warm and cloudy with scattered muggings?
I do think that whoever coined the term “responsibilisation” should be indicted for crimes against the English language.