Dc passes criminal law reform
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
So working on things that reduce crime without telling on arrest/conviction would be even more of a benefit? |
Anonymous
| *relying |
Anonymous
decriminalizing things doesn’t lower crime it just makes fewer things crime . One day shoplifting will be legal in dc. |
Anonymous
What about decreasing poverty? Those two overlap also. There are many laws targeted at criminalizing aspects of poverty that just don't need to be crimes. |
Anonymous
my dad grew up dirt poor and before there were generous welfare benefits. He worked hard to support his parents and to get into college. He wasn’t carjacking people |
Anonymous
I think other people should have the opportunities that your dad did. Sound fair? |
Anonymous
It doesn’t have to be short term, if you look at recidivism rates, older men released from prison have much lower recidivism rates than younger men. That’s pretty good evidence that incarceration can in fact succeed in reducing crime rates. The evidence that incarceration reduces crime “at the macro scale”—leaving aside the self-evident proposition that incarceration prevents criminals from reoffending while they are incarcerated—can be seen in the drop in crime rates from highs in the early 1990s: mass incarceration is how we put a stop to that. The idea that addressing the so-called root causes will actually reduce crime is a canard. Do you have any evidence that such an approach will actually work?Most offenders are not Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread to eat. The other points you raise are legitimate arguments against incarceration, which I disagree with but which are defensible in principle. But discussions of those points need to acknowledge the reality that reducing incarceration will result in crimes being committed, and real people being victimized, that would otherwise not have happened. It’s principled to accept that, bite the bullet, and say it’s worth it. But the intellectual dishonesty/gaslighting by the anti-carceral pressure groups is absurd. |
Anonymous
| Longer sentences are proven not to be a deterrent. Instead, what deters criminals is the likelihood that they will be caught and prosecuted. In DC, the latter isn't happening much, and the criminal code revisions do nothing to address this. Nothing is going to change unless/until the DCAO/USAG offices actually start prosecuting crimes instead of relentlessly pleading everything down to minor misdemeanors or tossing cases entirely because they might actually require some effort. |
Anonymous
| Here’s a solution: finish high school, learn a trade and don’t have a kid w/o a spouse who has also finished high school and has job skills. A radical thought, I know. |
Anonymous
Recidivism is real. Longer sentences means a longer timeframe where a criminal can't reoffend. |
Anonymous
| Anyone recall the murder of Aryeh wolf in dc a few months ago ? Police know exactly who the suspect is, but nobody is cooperating to provide tips or any information. He’s probably still in dc. |
Anonymous
you can’t get convictions in dc because the community refuses to cooperate even in capturing a suspect let alone as witnesses |
Anonymous
These posts overlook the fact that prosecutors often can't bring cases because the MPD witnesses have credibility issues. More attention needs to be paid to MPD. |
Anonymous
There’s a whole agency dedicated to overseeing the police. Now do the prosecutors and the courts. |
Anonymous
My boyfriend also grew up dirt poor. His family's home did not have indoor plumbing until he was going into 10th grade. The house was also not insulated well and winters were very, very very cold. His family was not carjacking people nor were they shoplifting. |