Does the Fear of Jail Actually Prevent Crime?

Fox News ^ | November 27, 2007 | John Lott, Jr.

[mad_as_he$$]

I have read the same thing. I was thinking of a more streamlined process........:-)

[sig226]

"what do you do with people who've spent years locked up, learning to be better criminals, have no education, no job experience or training and now probably have gang affiliations when they are released?"

Right to carry, castle doctrine, stand your ground, and self defense immunity laws seem to be working pretty well.

[pray4liberty]

Does the Fear of Jail Actually Prevent Crime?

It hasn't stopped the sociopath brother of a friend of mine, though even she would dearly love to see him behind bars.

[supercat]

I prefer number 2. Saves money.

A serious problem with imposing the death penalty for any but the most serious crimes is that a criminal who has not been caught but is marked for death has nothing to lose by anything he might do to avoid capture. While the death penalty may have a stronger deterrent effect than a prison term, the reduction in initial crime may be offset by the extra crimes that criminals do to avoid capture.

[supercat]

Actually I’ve read where the death penalty is MORE expensive after you get done with the endless appeals, lawyer costs, etc. I’m not against the death penalty, just seems that we could streamline the process a bit. On the other hand, I’d rather be dead than live the rest of my life in prison.

Suppose two people commit roughly similar crimes; one is sentenced to death, while the other is "merely" sentenced to life without parole. According to the liberal argument, the legal costs of the first one will exceed the legal costs plus imprisonment costs of the second. I wish someone would explain to be why this does not imply that either:

1. The government is spending money on legal procedures which would not help clear one who is wrongfully convicted; since trying to clear the wrongly-convicted is the only legitimate purpose I can see for the extra procedures, I'm not clear what value they actual procedures are supposed to have.
2. The money the government spends trying to clear those wrongfully-convicted people whose guilt is presumably most certain (since they've been sentenced to death) than those whose guilt is less certain. Such a policy seems illogical, unless I'm missing something.

I personally suspect the real situation is a mix of #1 and #2. The real goal of the appeals, however, isn't to acquit the innocent but rather to increase the cost of the death penalty so that such costs can then be used as a reason to abolish it.

[ketsu]

Not AMERICAN Jails!!

Cable TV, exercise rooms, libraries, three square meals a day, medical coverage, dental benefits - a lot of our inmates live better than the people paying the taxes to support them.

We should run our jails like the Romans ran their sulfur mines and quarries. Recidivism would be ZERO - for the survivors.

You've never been to prison. My roommate in college was a nurse at a high security prison medical ward. The stories of what goes on in there are so disgusting I would get banned immediately if I told them on FR.

Personally I would be interested in Panopticon/Japanese/clockwork orange style prisons. Extreme discipline, indoctrination and modification. You woundn't make the prisoners good people, but you would fry them into some semblance of social behavior.

[mad_as_he$$]

From what I have seen you are right. It even goes to three strike felons, they are putting up more resistance when it is three strike arrest time. Fortunately for society many are not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[arthurus]

Not much but incarceration does prevent the crimes that the incarceree would have otherwise committed, or redirects his criminal activity to a more confined and controlled environment.

[Brytani]

Right to carry, castle doctrine, stand your ground, and self defense immunity laws seem to be working pretty well.

While I fully support each of those points completely the recidivism rates show it's not enough.

[ZULU]

“You’ve never been to prison.”

No. But I have had experience in government I don’t care to elaborate on related to this subject.

I’m sure most of what you are referring to is due to the fact that we allow inmates to run the prisons. It isn’t the James Cagney days with the “hole” for trouble-makers.

Prisons and Jails should be tough - Joe Arapaio type tuff, where the control and discipline comes from the people running the jails not from gangstas and thugs who swagger around and runthings. And they kind of amenities I desscribed are available - all too often.

I guess there are some differences between states in this respect, but thanks to the ACLU and Court decisions, criminals aren’t treated as criminals by correctional facilities and the taxpayers bear the burden.