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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]RIP DC property values.. say hello to the 90s all over again.

So.much.progress.[/quote]

Funny, in the 90's we had the current criminal code. [/quote]
And the reduction of crime occurred under the current code as well. [/quote]

So maybe that has nothing to do with crime?  What other variables are there, hmm.  The economy?  Opportunities?  Less lead?[/quote]

More incarceration.  When in jail, people cannot commit further crimes in the community.  It’s the only thing that works.  Less incarceration equals more crime, and while there remains an argument for less incarceration, I wish advocates would stop gaslighting people about it and acknowledge the trade-off.[/quote]

It does seem like a fix although you have to admit it's short term, doesn't address the underlying issues, and doesn't solve anything big picture.  Do you have any evidence that at the macro scale we can incarcerate out way into reduced crime?

What about when the person is eventually released?  Will they have the ability to afford food/clothing/shelter or is their only real opportunity to survive to try crime again?

What is the impact on others?  Does it mean kids raised without a parent?  If that was their only parent what will it do to put them through the foster system?  Will they be more likely to follow the same path?

Do you distinguish between violent crime where we need to protect people from being harmed vs nonviolent?

What's the cost to us as a society to pay for prisons (we have a lot more than the most of the world) versus alleviating poverty?[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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