Comment on Female tourist takes down phone-snatcher in Argentina
Dave@lemmy.nz 23 hours agoCan I argue that increasing punishment generally doesn’t decrease crime long term, only short term. The change we need is to address the root cause not to increase the size of the stick.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
Sure, I agree to that. But right now, people that prey on weaker people need consequences, not slaps on their wrists and a promise they won’t do it again. You can’t “accidentally” rape someone. Lock em up
Dave@lemmy.nz 23 hours ago
Stealing is quite a different crime from rape. If people are stealing, remove their need or desire to steal rather than locking them up and putting them in a position where everyone they know is a criminal. It’s a cycle that’s hard to break and we should be more careful about who we thoughtlessly throw in jail.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
You are correct. What they’re stealing matters too. I’d absolutely look the other way for someone stealing food from a business. But yanking someone’s phone out of their hand, literally stealing from your neighbors is wild.
But yes, I shouldn’t have used rape as an example, it was only to show some crimes are exactly the opposite of accidental.