The Student Room Group

Only murderers and other violent criminals should go to prison

People should only have to go to jail for crimes that are violent or potentially violent, so obviously murder, terrorism, physical attacks, torture, throwing chemicals on someone and disfiguring them, etc. Economic offenses, like shoplifting or wolf of wall street type ****, should result in the government seizing some of their property and forcing them to pay a heavy fine. Since having these people around doesn't compromise the safety of others, should they really be locked up? They're not a danger to society, and the money that they are forced to pay will compensate for the things they have stolen. Petty crimes like theft are usually repeat offenses anyways, so keeping the person in jail does not normally teach them a lesson as they're likely to do it again. If someone commits a large-scale economic crime, and whatever money they get from it is stripped off them, they would either decide not to waste their time doing something so risky again, or their greed will result in them doing it again. But since there are no victims to the crime, or the victims receive compensation, does the offender really need to go to prison?

Feel free to also offer any arguments on types of crimes I didn't think of :tongue:
Repeat offender of robbery should just get their hands chopped off. Rapists should get their relevant bit removed. I would just apply this sort of logic to most crimes TBH. But as someone said earlier, I'm a bit odd so theres probably going to be a lot of unjustified disagreement with my suggestion.
Reply 2
Original post by Laomedeia
Repeat offender of robbery should just get their hands chopped off. Rapists should get their relevant bit removed. I would just apply this sort of logic to most crimes TBH. But as someone said earlier, I'm a bit odd so theres probably going to be a lot of unjustified disagreement with my suggestion.


Isn't that similar to Sharia Law in some countries?
As long as they can twerk, they can do the work
Original post by flibber
Isn't that similar to Sharia Law in some countries?


Aint got a frickin clue. Never heard of Sharia law.
Reply 5
Original post by Laomedeia
Aint got a frickin clue. Never heard of Sharia law.


Google it.
Original post by Laomedeia
Repeat offender of robbery should just get their hands chopped off. Rapists should get their relevant bit removed. I would just apply this sort of logic to most crimes TBH. But as someone said earlier, I'm a bit odd so theres probably going to be a lot of unjustified disagreement with my suggestion.


What if someone gave someone a lap dance without permission and they said that they were sexually assaulted? What do you expect the punishment to be, slicing their butt cheek off?

There are too many flaws in that logic but I sort of get what you mean
Original post by anitsirk
People should only have to go to jail for crimes that are violent or potentially violent, so obviously murder, terrorism, physical attacks, torture, throwing chemicals on someone and disfiguring them, etc. Economic offenses, like shoplifting or wolf of wall street type ****, should result in the government seizing some of their property and forcing them to pay a heavy fine. Since having these people around doesn't compromise the safety of others, should they really be locked up? They're not a danger to society, and the money that they are forced to pay will compensate for the things they have stolen. Petty crimes like theft are usually repeat offenses anyways, so keeping the person in jail does not normally teach them a lesson as they're likely to do it again. If someone commits a large-scale economic crime, and whatever money they get from it is stripped off them, they would either decide not to waste their time doing something so risky again, or their greed will result in them doing it again. But since there are no victims to the crime, or the victims receive compensation, does the offender really need to go to prison?

Feel free to also offer any arguments on types of crimes I didn't think of :tongue:

Quick fact - we'll have more criminals running around if that happens.
Original post by Laomedeia
Repeat offender of robbery should just get their hands chopped off. Rapists should get their relevant bit removed. I would just apply this sort of logic to most crimes TBH. But as someone said earlier, I'm a bit odd so theres probably going to be a lot of unjustified disagreement with my suggestion.


:lol:

That'd be me. I actually agree with you, doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
Original post by flibber
Google it.


What a dullard reply. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum. Isnt the whole point of such forums to talk and ask about stuff?
Original post by flibber
Google it.


What a stupid answer. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum, thus defeating the purpose of a message forum.
Yeah, because if your neighbour was a convicted rapist you'd still want him living besides you.
Original post by Laomedeia
What a dullard reply. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum. Isnt the whole point of such forums to talk and ask about stuff?


Original post by Anonymoùs
What a stupid answer. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum, thus defeating the purpose of a message forum.


Point of a message board obviously isn't to exchange definitions of terms which can be easily attained; it's to engage in conversation, especially through debate. While you might expect to have terms explained to you in person since it's a little more difficult to look something up, while participating in an activity which necessarily means you are sitting at a computer and on the internet, it's silly to expect someone to go to the trouble of typing up a definition for you when you could simply click a button and type a couple of words. FWIW, I took five seconds to test how long it took, and this is the first result:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7234870.stm

On topic, sentencing policy is, and should be far more complex than statements 'doing X results in Y', although that approach is attractive in terms of simplicity and legal certainty. What sentence is given in any given case should be the one which is best to achieve the numerous objectives which the criminal law seeks to achieve.
Original post by Stefano93
Yeah, because if your neighbour was a convicted rapist you'd still want him living besides you.


I assume the OP would consider rape a violent crime and support sentencing rapists to prison time.
Original post by TheDefiniteArticle
On topic, sentencing policy is, and should be far more complex than statements 'doing X results in Y', although that approach is attractive in terms of simplicity and legal certainty. What sentence is given in any given case should be the one which is best to achieve the numerous objectives which the criminal law seeks to achieve.


This. Sentencing does, and should, take into account previous convictions, the harm caused by the offence, the level of malicious intent, remorse, etc.

A battered housewife who hits her husband with a vase as she's had enough of his abuse should not get the same sentence as a career criminal who stabs someone as part of gang warfare.
A single con artist or embezzler can ruin the lives of hundreds of people without ever doing anything so dramatic as sinking a knife into anyone. I would consider that kind of person deserving of jail time regardless.
Original post by Laomedeia
What a dullard reply. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum. Isnt the whole point of such forums to talk and ask about stuff?


Original post by Anonymoùs
What a stupid answer. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum, thus defeating the purpose of a message forum.


I said it 'Google it' because you could find more about it using a book or online than I can tell you, as I'm not particularly knowledgeable concerning Islamic jurisprudence. Had I known enough, I could have not only given you a definition but also given my viewpoint in detail.

I'll tell you what I know of it anyway, since you insist.

Sharia Law is an Islamic code based on the Quran and Hadith used in some countries where Islam is the official religion of the state, most notably in Saudi Arabia and Iran. There are different schools of Sharia Law, such as the Hanbali, Hanafi, Maliki, and Jafari schools, with some schools issuing stricter punishments than others for violations of Sharia Law. Sharia Law is only meant to be applicable to Muslims, and non-Muslims are exempt from religious law. The Jafari school is (if I'm right), exclusive to Shia Islam. The punishments proscribed by Sharia Law are controversial as it included stoning for crimes such as adultery, which has been decriminalised and viewed as a private matter between couples in the West. Even actions that are crimes in the West (and pretty much everywhere else in the world) such as theft would not result in amputation in the UK. The problem lies in the fact that Islam considers itself to be a timeless religion, therefore what was considered right in the 7th century CE is right even now [at least according to the Quran]. I hold the view that while morality is fixed, we are progressing as we as a race (at least in the Western world) have discovered (or maybe still discovering) what is moral (in actions and in punishment) and what is not, whereas other groups of people have not. I believe that peace can only be attained when all groups of people discover how to behave morally.

Does this suffice?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Laomedeia
You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum.


Original post by Anonymoùs
You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum


I get the feeling these two accounts are run by the same person.
Original post by anosmianAcrimony
I get the feeling these two accounts are run by the same person.


I had the same impression, but maybe one of them just modelled their response using the other post. Although the second person could have expressed their agreement more discreetly/better (whether they are indeed the same person or not) by doing the following:

Original post by Laomedeia
What a dullard reply. You could say that to any question somebody asks on a forum. Isnt the whole point of such forums to talk and ask about stuff?


^This
(edited 8 years ago)

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