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I wish there was a straight forward, linear way of calculating prison time for dollars spent. IMO there should be a 1:1 correlation (or something along those li
by jjallen 5y ago
I wish there was a straight forward, linear way of calculating prison time for dollars spent. IMO there should be a 1:1 correlation (or something along those lines) for how much prison time someone does for each dollar.
It seems that a decent number of people do relatively little prison time for stealing millions of dollars while others that steal a much smaller amount still spend a long time in prison.
- wackro 5y agoPrison time is based on harm (or so the theory goes). How much harm is done by any action to its victim is subjective to the victim's circumstance. Calculating harm isn't a maths problem, which is why judges exist. Moreover, wishing that prison time were directly proportional to monetary loss would be an abandonment of morality.
- namelessoracle 5y agoThis is an interesting thought experiment. Harm is relative right. Steal 10 million dollars from a family owned small business that leads to their bankruptcy and the family homes being lost? Life In Prison. Steal 10 million dollars from Bezos? Fine. This actually seems somewhat reasonable to me, I have a feeling you are more likely to get punished stealing from Bezos than the family business though.
- wackro 5y agoYes. It's no secret that in the real world justice favours the wealthy, for more than just the fact that money buys the best lawyers.
- bambax 5y agoNo. Guilt is based on intent, not harm. And there are many victimless crimes (like buying controlled substances) where the harm is zero and the penalty far from zero.