Re: To those of you drinking tonight
Considering prevented crime is something one would only know about in an alternate reality where the law was in fact never added/upped/changed you cannot factually say that as a true statement.
Those stats don't really mean anything though because if not for those sentences then for all we know crime could have been twice as rampant without the laws. And even if it's not that drastic, again if it prevents just a small percentage or prevents the stats from actually increasing when they would have otherwise then you have made progress.
Prisons serve two purposes, to attempt to rehabilitate and protect the public. Your arguement that police are supposed to protect the public is true to a certain extent but people who have shown to be habitual offenders end up in prison due to the fact that they are repeat offenders and provide a clear danger to the public if they are not locked up and rehabilitated. We cannot continue to let habitual offenders of serious crimes remain on the streets and just ask the police to take care of it when most cities are shorthanded in regards to police as it is. If you are a habitual abuser of a serious crime that has the potential to maim and murder innocent people then I can think of no better place for you than in a jail cell.
I don't think you can say it's as clear cut either as DUI is not as bad as a murderer or rapist. For example, I know a guy who got into an arguement, shoved someone and they fell down and died and he is, by label, a murderer. Then you take someone else like my sister's ex who has driven drunk 6 times and not killed or hurt anyone. As for the rapist scenario, how many guys have been convicted of rape despite it being somewhat up in the air as to whether she said stop (or outright lied) or how many guys have been 20 years old, had sex with a 17 year old and gone to prison for statutory rape?
So which of these criminals is worse? It's all based on looking at each case. A DUI offender can and a lot of times is worse than a murderer or a rapist, they are often just luckier is all. With that being said I am not endorsing a MANDATORY prison sentence for a 3rd time offender, but rather that just be the guideline. I don't really like mandatory sentences overall as they remove the judge's discretion.
Considering prevented crime is something one would only know about in an alternate reality where the law was in fact never added/upped/changed you cannot factually say that as a true statement.
Those stats don't really mean anything though because if not for those sentences then for all we know crime could have been twice as rampant without the laws. And even if it's not that drastic, again if it prevents just a small percentage or prevents the stats from actually increasing when they would have otherwise then you have made progress.
Prisons serve two purposes, to attempt to rehabilitate and protect the public. Your arguement that police are supposed to protect the public is true to a certain extent but people who have shown to be habitual offenders end up in prison due to the fact that they are repeat offenders and provide a clear danger to the public if they are not locked up and rehabilitated. We cannot continue to let habitual offenders of serious crimes remain on the streets and just ask the police to take care of it when most cities are shorthanded in regards to police as it is. If you are a habitual abuser of a serious crime that has the potential to maim and murder innocent people then I can think of no better place for you than in a jail cell.
I don't think you can say it's as clear cut either as DUI is not as bad as a murderer or rapist. For example, I know a guy who got into an arguement, shoved someone and they fell down and died and he is, by label, a murderer. Then you take someone else like my sister's ex who has driven drunk 6 times and not killed or hurt anyone. As for the rapist scenario, how many guys have been convicted of rape despite it being somewhat up in the air as to whether she said stop (or outright lied) or how many guys have been 20 years old, had sex with a 17 year old and gone to prison for statutory rape?
So which of these criminals is worse? It's all based on looking at each case. A DUI offender can and a lot of times is worse than a murderer or a rapist, they are often just luckier is all. With that being said I am not endorsing a MANDATORY prison sentence for a 3rd time offender, but rather that just be the guideline. I don't really like mandatory sentences overall as they remove the judge's discretion.
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