Zonie63
Posts: 2826
Joined: 4/25/2011 From: The Old Pueblo Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: Aswad quote:
ORIGINAL: Zonie63 I think murderers are eligible for parole after 7 years, although I'm not entirely certain of that. Here, they receive a sentence of up to 21 years, out of which 14 would be served as the minimum, with the last 4 years or so including a sort of layover programme to reacclimatize them to society (which may or may not include time in normal society in the daytime), and the option of retaining them indefinitely if they're considered to be at high risk of recidivism. The parole arrangement you're talking about seems counterintuitive to me. I think it seems that way to a lot of Americans, too. Of course, just because they may be eligible for parole doesn't mean they'll get it. quote:
In any case, it doesn't quite answer the question of what the average time to release is. I don't know the answer to that question. quote:
Also, I'm curious as to the actual crime rate for serious crime, as opposed to the incarceration rate. The previous site I linked above has the crime index per 100,000, plus the total number of crimes. It also has the crime rate for specific crimes, such as murder, rape, assault, as well as property crimes. It also has stats for each state, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (which were number 1 and 2 in murder rate per 100,000 in 2004-05). It's hard to draw any real conclusions from the data, though. I once thought the death penalty might have been a deterrent, but the numbers don't really back that up. Gun laws don't seem to be much of a factor in reducing the violent crime rate either. States like Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have very low rates of violent crime compared to the rest of the states. I guess they're doing something right in those states. quote:
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As I recall, the Three Strikes law was designed to keep habitual criminals in prison, as opposed to the "revolving door" of recidivism. If you want to reduce recidivism, look into the Scandinavian model instead. The numbers speak for themselves. Also, abandon the War on Drugs, which breeds crime and quite directly fuels the Mexican civil war. IWYW, — Aswad. Definitely, the War on Drugs has been a disaster. There's also the question of whether punishment and warehousing is effective to reduce crime and recidivism, as opposed to rehabilitation and education. I think the European model centers more on rehabilitation, while the U.S. focuses more on punishment and confinement to keep society safe.
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