6 ms·

I'm concerned about lawlessness, but if the only alternative is that $950 theft is a _felony_ that's messed up. This seems more like a case of not being able to

I'm concerned about lawlessness, but if the only alternative is that $950 theft is a _felony_ that's messed up. This seems more like a case of not being able to deal with crime than lax sentencing.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rayiner 5y ago
Nobody will risk prison for $950 of stuff. If you make it basically a ticket, then you can easily get dozens of people to be able to steal a meaningful amount of stuff.
- coderintherye 5y ago
  This is patently false, do you think people didn't go to prison prior to the law change? In fact, so many people were risking prison time for petty theft that is what led to enacting the law in first place to deal with the overcrowding in the state prison system, as summed up in this layman article: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-160551360299 https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-160551360299
  - desmosxxx 5y ago
    > overcrowding in the state prison system and so our solution is to change the law, instead of dealing with whatever is causing people to steal in the first place. Theft is a grey area between non-violence and violence, I'd rather we deal with the root causes rather than just making it less of a crime. If murders were overcrowding prisons, i doubt many people would be calling for reduced murder sentencing (although im sure some would)
    - rayiner 5y ago
      The “root causes” of theft (and most crime) is social breakdown. It’s not poverty or need—or you’d expect far more crime in say India than in the US and you don’t actually see that.
- spfzero 5y ago
  If you stole $950 from me, I'd want it handled as a felony. Or if a misdemeanor, that you at least got jail time (after giving my money back). I do not want people thinking they can steal with impunity. Otherwise, can I have all of the tax dollars I've spent on law enforcement returned now please?
  - fighterpilot 5y ago
    There should be a protest movement that steals $949 worth of stuff from the front garden of elected reps until it changes
    - mensetmanusman 5y ago
      0.96 sq.ft of manicured grass?
- tptacek 5y ago
  People will risk prison for a lot less than $950. Chicago isn't San Francisco, and if you're caught stealing a weed-whacker out of a garage, the police will mess up your year. People still break into my garage. I don't think felony sentencing has really any impact on these kinds of crimes; all it does is stuff prisons full of hopeless people. That's not to say there isn't a policing solution to this problem! Just that dialing up consequences isn't it.
dcolkitt 5y ago
A simple solution is that the amount should be be based on the value stolen by the entire organization. RICO laws work much the same way with the mafia. So, if your crew stole $10,000 worth of stuff over the past year, you’d be looking at a $10k theft charge even if you individually only stole $50 of merchandise.

I'm concerned about lawlessness, but if the only alternative is that $950 theft is a _felony_ that's messed up. This seems more like a case of not being able to deal with crime than lax sentencing.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

rayiner 5y ago

Nobody will risk prison for $950 of stuff. If you make it basically a ticket, then you can easily get dozens of people to be able to steal a meaningful amount of stuff.

coderintherye 5y ago
This is patently false, do you think people didn't go to prison prior to the law change? In fact, so many people were risking prison time for petty theft that is what led to enacting the law in first place to deal with the overcrowding in the state prison system, as summed up in this layman article: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-160551360299 https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-160551360299
- desmosxxx 5y ago
  > overcrowding in the state prison system and so our solution is to change the law, instead of dealing with whatever is causing people to steal in the first place. Theft is a grey area between non-violence and violence, I'd rather we deal with the root causes rather than just making it less of a crime. If murders were overcrowding prisons, i doubt many people would be calling for reduced murder sentencing (although im sure some would)
  - rayiner 5y ago
    The “root causes” of theft (and most crime) is social breakdown. It’s not poverty or need—or you’d expect far more crime in say India than in the US and you don’t actually see that.
spfzero 5y ago
If you stole $950 from me, I'd want it handled as a felony. Or if a misdemeanor, that you at least got jail time (after giving my money back). I do not want people thinking they can steal with impunity. Otherwise, can I have all of the tax dollars I've spent on law enforcement returned now please?
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  There should be a protest movement that steals $949 worth of stuff from the front garden of elected reps until it changes
  - mensetmanusman 5y ago
    0.96 sq.ft of manicured grass?
tptacek 5y ago
People will risk prison for a lot less than $950. Chicago isn't San Francisco, and if you're caught stealing a weed-whacker out of a garage, the police will mess up your year. People still break into my garage. I don't think felony sentencing has really any impact on these kinds of crimes; all it does is stuff prisons full of hopeless people. That's not to say there isn't a policing solution to this problem! Just that dialing up consequences isn't it.

dcolkitt 5y ago

A simple solution is that the amount should be be based on the value stolen by the entire organization. RICO laws work much the same way with the mafia. So, if your crew stole $10,000 worth of stuff over the past year, you’d be looking at a $10k theft charge even if you individually only stole $50 of merchandise.