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> the US incarcerates a greater proportion of its population than any other country A large part of this is ridiculously long sentences. You called out Califor

> the US incarcerates a greater proportion of its population than any other country A large part of this is ridiculously long sentences. You called out California's three strikes law in you comment. One example of this I heard on the excellent Ear Hustle podcast was somebody who was sentenced to 50 years to life for stealing $40 (unarmed) after having two prior convictions. I don't see how this is good for anybody.

jdietrich 8y ago
Several other states have Three Strikes or "habitual felon" laws, so the problem of life sentences for minor offences isn't confined to California.
Gpetrium 8y ago
Could it be that the "3 convictions and you are out" comes from trying to balance the fact that the system believes if someone is caught 3 times, they are likely to have done other times without being caught and that they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future (prison is not acting as a deterrent). Coupling that with the material and psychological impact on the victims, the system believes that society is better off having that person imprisoned for "close to life"? If that is the case, society then needs to start looking at other incentives (carrot & stick) that can limit the risk of re-incidence, such as better reintegration mechanisms.
webmobdev 8y ago
I personally believe that the American criminal system is more influenced by the Islamic Sharia system when it comes to punishment. Under the Islamic Sharia system, the laws are very harsh - you steal and your hand is cut off, you rape someone and you are stoned to death, you commit adultery and you are publicly lashed and so on. But the Sharia also allows the victim (or their relatives) to forgive the perpetrator (with or without some compensation, usually money) in the spirit of Islam. The American criminal legal system tries to model something similar - and that is why the punishments for most crimes are absurd too; for e.g. US courts sometimes award absurd punishments of 200 years of jail time. Like the Sharia system, once punishments is awarded and carried out the system ensures you end up broken (in spirit, if not physically). Where as in a Sharia system the victim decides on being compassionate or a "fair" compensation in lieu of a lesser punishment, in the US system this power is held with the government. And this is used as a bargaining chip to make "deals" with the accused (note that I don't say the guilty, as sometimes even the innocent make such deals afraid of the harsher punishment if they were to lose the trial). (From what I have read, some of the founding fathers of the US were admirers of the Islamic empire and their political and legal system influenced by Islam).

jdietrich 8y ago

Several other states have Three Strikes or "habitual felon" laws, so the problem of life sentences for minor offences isn't confined to California.

Gpetrium 8y ago

Could it be that the "3 convictions and you are out" comes from trying to balance the fact that the system believes if someone is caught 3 times, they are likely to have done other times without being caught and that they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future (prison is not acting as a deterrent). Coupling that with the material and psychological impact on the victims, the system believes that society is better off having that person imprisoned for "close to life"? If that is the case, society then needs to start looking at other incentives (carrot & stick) that can limit the risk of re-incidence, such as better reintegration mechanisms.

webmobdev 8y ago

I personally believe that the American criminal system is more influenced by the Islamic Sharia system when it comes to punishment. Under the Islamic Sharia system, the laws are very harsh - you steal and your hand is cut off, you rape someone and you are stoned to death, you commit adultery and you are publicly lashed and so on. But the Sharia also allows the victim (or their relatives) to forgive the perpetrator (with or without some compensation, usually money) in the spirit of Islam. The American criminal legal system tries to model something similar - and that is why the punishments for most crimes are absurd too; for e.g. US courts sometimes award absurd punishments of 200 years of jail time. Like the Sharia system, once punishments is awarded and carried out the system ensures you end up broken (in spirit, if not physically). Where as in a Sharia system the victim decides on being compassionate or a "fair" compensation in lieu of a lesser punishment, in the US system this power is held with the government. And this is used as a bargaining chip to make "deals" with the accused (note that I don't say the guilty, as sometimes even the innocent make such deals afraid of the harsher punishment if they were to lose the trial). (From what I have read, some of the founding fathers of the US were admirers of the Islamic empire and their political and legal system influenced by Islam).