4 ms·

Prison isn't just punishment, it's a deterrent to future criminals. If white collar criminals got to chill at home for few years, do you think we would have end

Prison isn't just punishment, it's a deterrent to future criminals. If white collar criminals got to chill at home for few years, do you think we would have end up with more victims of fraud, or fewer?

anilakar 2y ago
It's a really terrible deterrent because people are not rational actors. That said, I'm all for jailing her as long as non-white-collar criminals are getting the same treatment. Edit: This seems to be a controversial opinion as this comment's score is continuously going up and down.
jfengel 2y ago
Given our vast prison population, perhaps it's not such an effective deterrent.
- ghfhghg 2y ago
  Our vast population of white collar criminals?
  - pjc50 2y ago
    The US has a lot of people in prison for non-violent offences. It even has a huge number of people in pre-trial detention, where other countries have better bail systems and things like electronic tagging to allow people to stay out of jail before they are convicted.
    - mpalmer 2y ago
      Non-violent != white collar
    - acdha 2y ago
      I think you’d find a lot of support for the idea that we should have fewer people total in jail (i.e. funneling drug users into medical care, use community service for non-violent property crimes, etc.) but more white collar criminals going to jail. As a simple example, I’ve heard a lot of people of all ages comment that the bankers would repeat the kinds of crimes they committed during the mortgage bubble because they made more profits than they were fined. Jail time is far more plausibly a deterrent in those cases.
amazingamazing 2y ago
There are other ways to punish people other than putting them in prison.
throwway120385 2y ago
It's not an effective deterrent because people who commit crimes don't often stop and think "oh if I do this I will get caught." In fact if you've ever reported crimes to police as a victim you've probably had the experience that there's really not much that they do other than take a police report and if it's a crime against property basically tell you to call your insurance company. Prison is a deterrent to you or me because we think things through before we act. But criminals often have really bad impulse control relative to the general population and so any preventative measures that rely on impulse control won't work on them.
- acdha 2y ago
  There is more than one type of criminal in the world. What you’re describing is more true of the guys spontaneously grabbing purses or backpacks, not white collar criminals who spend years planning and maintaining their crimes. They’re far more likely to weigh the risk of serious enforcement, and jail is far more of a deterrent for them.

anilakar 2y ago

It's a really terrible deterrent because people are not rational actors. That said, I'm all for jailing her as long as non-white-collar criminals are getting the same treatment. Edit: This seems to be a controversial opinion as this comment's score is continuously going up and down.

jfengel 2y ago

Given our vast prison population, perhaps it's not such an effective deterrent.

ghfhghg 2y ago
Our vast population of white collar criminals?
- pjc50 2y ago
  The US has a lot of people in prison for non-violent offences. It even has a huge number of people in pre-trial detention, where other countries have better bail systems and things like electronic tagging to allow people to stay out of jail before they are convicted.
  - mpalmer 2y ago
    Non-violent != white collar
  - acdha 2y ago
    I think you’d find a lot of support for the idea that we should have fewer people total in jail (i.e. funneling drug users into medical care, use community service for non-violent property crimes, etc.) but more white collar criminals going to jail. As a simple example, I’ve heard a lot of people of all ages comment that the bankers would repeat the kinds of crimes they committed during the mortgage bubble because they made more profits than they were fined. Jail time is far more plausibly a deterrent in those cases.

amazingamazing 2y ago

There are other ways to punish people other than putting them in prison.

throwway120385 2y ago

It's not an effective deterrent because people who commit crimes don't often stop and think "oh if I do this I will get caught." In fact if you've ever reported crimes to police as a victim you've probably had the experience that there's really not much that they do other than take a police report and if it's a crime against property basically tell you to call your insurance company. Prison is a deterrent to you or me because we think things through before we act. But criminals often have really bad impulse control relative to the general population and so any preventative measures that rely on impulse control won't work on them.

acdha 2y ago
There is more than one type of criminal in the world. What you’re describing is more true of the guys spontaneously grabbing purses or backpacks, not white collar criminals who spend years planning and maintaining their crimes. They’re far more likely to weigh the risk of serious enforcement, and jail is far more of a deterrent for them.