4 ms·

How is this not extortion and blackmail? Among other things a legal threat may do the following: Constitute extortion, blackmail, or some other crime or tort i

by desdiv 12y ago

How is this not extortion and blackmail? Among other things a legal threat may do the following: Constitute extortion, blackmail, or some other crime or tort involving improper threats of harm: for example, it is considered unethical, and in some cases a crime, to threaten to report criminal conduct to the police unless a settlement is reached. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_threat#Effect_of_legal_threat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_threat#Effect_of_legal_t... Hilariously enough, Googling "blackmail threatening to report crime" and an HN post is on the first page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2856066 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2856066 Maybe thucydides would like to chime in here as well?

Intermernet 12y ago
In addition to this obvious point is the fact that most people who shoplift something do it because they can't afford to buy it. How does charging $320 fix that underlying problem? If anything, it makes it worse.
- vasco 12y ago
  Can you provide a source for that?
- matthewmacleod 12y ago
  In addition to this obvious point is the fact that most people who shoplift something do it because they can't afford to buy it. Is that actually the case? It seems intuitively obvious, but I expect there are actually quite a few other reasons people end up shoplifting.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    Factors that cause people to shoplift: peer pressure to possess an item they can't afford (teenagers need brand 'x' stuff to fit in), thrill seeking, mental issues (kleptomania), simple poverty.
  - mercer 12y ago
    I know quite a few people who have admitted to shoplifting in their past, often regularly, and almost exclusively from their own employer. It was often a way to express dissatisfaction with the work, or to 'compensate' for low pay. And according to them, all of their colleagues did the same, and often involved their friends too. As a teenager I worked at McDonalds for a year. We had pants without pockets, and I was told that this was primarily to keep employees from stealing.

by desdiv 12y ago

Intermernet 12y ago

In addition to this obvious point is the fact that most people who shoplift something do it because they can't afford to buy it. How does charging $320 fix that underlying problem? If anything, it makes it worse.

vasco 12y ago
Can you provide a source for that?
matthewmacleod 12y ago
In addition to this obvious point is the fact that most people who shoplift something do it because they can't afford to buy it. Is that actually the case? It seems intuitively obvious, but I expect there are actually quite a few other reasons people end up shoplifting.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Factors that cause people to shoplift: peer pressure to possess an item they can't afford (teenagers need brand 'x' stuff to fit in), thrill seeking, mental issues (kleptomania), simple poverty.
- mercer 12y ago
  I know quite a few people who have admitted to shoplifting in their past, often regularly, and almost exclusively from their own employer. It was often a way to express dissatisfaction with the work, or to 'compensate' for low pay. And according to them, all of their colleagues did the same, and often involved their friends too. As a teenager I worked at McDonalds for a year. We had pants without pockets, and I was told that this was primarily to keep employees from stealing.