# Repressive treatment of rioters **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492 "2011-08-12T19:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/81 "2011-08-13T17:11:30Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Several magistrates courts in London have been sitting for 24 hours a day to get through the backlog. Many defendents are entering pleas in the magistrates courts and then being kicked into Crown Court for sentencing, where the sentences that can be handed out are much longer. That makes me wonder how they will fit all these people in jails. How about sentencing them to clean up the areas where they wrecked stuff? You broke it, you fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/82 "2011-08-13T17:14:19Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Do you not understand how bigoted that statement is? You are dehumanising Police and Judiciary in exactly the same way the more extreme right-wingers are doing to the unemployed. Well, yeah. You didn’t really think **blindboyard** was a good person, did you? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/83 "2011-08-13T17:37:56Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Tomorrow, we round up the children of the rioters and rape them to death in front of their parents. Or, more officious government parlance, we institute a robust psychological disincentive to further civil unrest. Hey, **Der Trihs,** I didn’t know you had a twin. Hey **blindboy** , just thought I should let you know something that you may have missed this lifetime: you’re an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/84 "2011-08-13T17:43:07Z")
**Quote: SeldomSeen** > [@](#): > > Ah, they don’t know what repressive is. In the Paris riots of 1968, so it is said, when the police took down a male rioter they would spread-eagle him on the pavement and pulp his balls with a nightstick. If they took down a female rioter, she’d be taken to the station and gang-raped. Sometimes they used a nightstick for that too. > > But De Gaulle got the riots under control and was declared a hero. **Quote: Captaine Zombie** > [@](#): > > Sounds like you were watching some hardcore porn, otherwise I’d ask you for cites. > BTW, De Gaulle didnt really “get the riots under control”, if anybody did it it was his Prime Minister Pompidou. And De Gaulle’s aura was smashed with the “Mai 68” events. He resigned one year later, and died a few months later. Not a very dignified ending. 'Twasn’t porn, it was a piece I read years ago by someone who claimed to be a journalist and to have been there. No, I can’t remember who, or even where I read it. Not an impeccable source, wouldn’t have used it anywhere else but the pit. And yes, I know De Gaulle didn’t exactly shine…in fact he fled to Germany for a time. That was intended to be taken with a dose of cynicism which didn’t come across very well. **Quote: Kobal2** > [@](#): > > You heard some fanciful shit, son. > The CRS weren’t tender and loving (still aren’t), and there were indeed some notorious incidents (notably one guy the cops threw unconscious in the river. He drowned.) but it wasn’t _that_ bad, not systematically at least. > Although the French cops did use a fairly infamous tactic up until the late eighties, the “voltigeurs”, which consisted in saddling a pair of guys on one motorcycle, one cop drives and the other swings a long truncheon. A bop to the head or lower back at full speed smarts a little, or so I heard. The “voltigeurs” died with Malik Oussekine, whom they pursued into a stairwell and savagely beat to death in '86. Instant cause célèbre. Pretty much our own Rodney King, with the kicker that our guy was completely innocent to boot. It may very well have been fanciful or at least apocryphal as I noted above. Point is, the police have often achieved a reputation for brutality in dealing with riots. At Kent State the authorities panicked and opened fire on the protesters. In Beijing in 1989 they fired indiscriminately into the crowd and ran people down with tanks. In the present situation the British authorities have by comparison shown a fair amount of restraint. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/85 "2011-08-13T18:50:02Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > “Got away with” implies some effort on their part Are you vying for the award for the most BS posts in one thread? If so, you’ve nearly got a lock on it now. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/86 "2011-08-13T18:56:09Z")
Am I going to have to read you all the riot act for feeding the blatant trolls again? Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/87 "2011-08-13T22:25:09Z")
Hrm… this is one of the rare cases where I’m willing to vote for “retarded” rather than “trolling”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/88 "2011-08-13T22:26:55Z")
[Appropriate pic.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/discoweasel/1849110911/) ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/89 "2011-08-14T00:16:33Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > “I’d smash you if you took your uniform off”.: sixteen weeks inside. > > Stealing three quids worth of bottled water? Six months in jail, and for a student so it’ll damage his prospects in the long term as it will interrupt his studies. > > The rioters are the only decent people in this situation. The judges and the polices are a gang of cunts lusting after a bit of blood. That’s the only reason they get into that game anyway. What are “polices”? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/90 "2011-08-14T07:08:12Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Or the Tyrannical method, shoot them all and let god sort them out. …not working too well in Syria, but I guess you can always try harder. Personally though, I don’t favor Stalin or Pol Pot as role models. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/91 "2011-08-14T08:12:49Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’m doing nothing of the sort, moron; people can read my posts for themselves. Likewise, they can read yours as well, and I should remind you that you do not appear to have yet cited a case in which someone was sentenced for no offense at all. Yeah, the woman thrown out of her home because her son was arrested wasn’t technically sentenced, in the legal sense. Obviously anyone convicted will have been convicted of an offence, whether they actually did it or not. [This girl](http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1455638_mum-jailed-for-six-months-for-wearing-pair-of-looted-shorts-), for example, a respectable mother of two who slept through the riots, is now serving five months for accepting a gift which turned out to be a stolen pair of shorts. > [@](#): > > I find it frankly bizarre that until just this week you apparently had no idea, none at all, that a certain degree of reactionary behavior might occur over an event that any sensible person would recognize was manifest in its unfairness, not to mention completely counterproductive to any potential sociopolitical point that might be buried somewhere in the chaos. Being English I have the possibly deluded idea that the government is a democratic institution which is supposed to respect our liberties, serve the public interest and administer the public finances and public services in a responsible manner. I may be a dreamer… The point being that this is the result of a politicised judiciary serving the government rather than the public interest, which I find alarming. The government are the only possible threat to our ancient liberties, which I find rather more troubling than some riotous yoof,. > [@](#): > > I thus must say that in the pantheon of outrage over unjust things that happen in this world, the cases you have mentioned so far are pretty small beer. Well, they’re no Chinese slave labour, but they’re local. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That makes me wonder how they will fit all these people in jails. How about sentencing them to clean up the areas where they wrecked stuff? You broke it, you fix it. Community orders, and other non-custodial sentences, are available to the judges. They’re also the normal way to punish, say, a first offence by an otherwise upstanding member of the community. If you’re wondering why they’re not being used for llittle cases like this, you’re not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/92 "2011-08-14T21:32:22Z")
Out of idle curiosity, how is punishing rioters _not_ protecting society? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/93 "2011-08-14T21:43:53Z")
If the rioters are fighting for something that is good for the public, repressing rioters would be punishing society. Rioting to get a dictator to quit would be an example. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/94 "2011-08-14T22:38:00Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Community orders, and other non-custodial sentences, are available to the judges. They’re also the normal way to punish, say, a first offence by an otherwise upstanding member of the community. Whilst community service may be appropriate for merely stealing some water in normal circumstances, you have to bear in mind the aggravating factor that the offence was committed during a riot. There’s several reasons why riot is seen as an aggravating factor - the offence occurred at a time when: - the forces of law and order have broken down - normal access of the emergency services is impeded by the mob - severe disruption and fear is caused to members of the public There’s public policy issues - If a full scale riot is going on then it’s even more important than usual that you don’t commit even small offences (for the above reasons - the police are busy, people are scared and the emergency services can’t get through if needed). Correspondingly therefore, if you do commit a small offence, you get a higher than normal sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/95 "2011-08-15T01:08:14Z")
Is it at all possible that the next time a rioting opportunity arises, the punks involved might think “Ah, I might get 6 months in jail for this” and then go the fuck home instead? If so, it’s all worth it. Fuck 'em all. No sympathy. Zero. Enjoy your stay in prison and next time give a shit about your neighbours, your community, your tax-paying parents. Speaking of which, throw the parents in jail too. Fuckers. Who the fuck would let their kids go out at night knowing full-well what was on the agenda? Once again: fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/96 "2011-08-15T02:41:52Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Community orders, and other non-custodial sentences, are available to the judges. They’re also the normal way to punish, say, a first offence by an otherwise upstanding member of the community. If you’re wondering why they’re not being used for llittle cases like this, you’re not the only one. Also available to the judges are sentences of six months in jail for upstanding members of the community who help loot a store during a riot. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/97 "2011-08-15T02:47:56Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Community orders, and other non-custodial sentences, are available to the judges. They’re also the normal way to punish, say, a first offence by an otherwise upstanding member of the community. If you’re wondering why they’re not being used for llittle cases like this, you’re not the only one. If you’ve just looted a store, you’re no longer an upstanding member of the community. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/98 "2011-08-15T02:49:00Z")
Looters should be shot on sight. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/99 "2011-08-15T03:18:26Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > If the rioters are fighting for something that is good for the public They aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![OneMissedPost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OneMissedPost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneMissedPost)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492/100 "2011-08-15T03:51:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No sympathy. Zero. Enjoy your stay in prison and next time give a shit about your neighbours, your community, your tax-paying parents. I have no sympathy for them either. This was just complete chaos. I have no sympathy for people who have such a blatant disregard for their neighbors. They obviously have no respect for anyone. They deserve to be locked up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repressive-treatment-of-rioters/592492.md?page=6)