Can suitably enforced house arrest serve as a better deterrent of crime than prison?

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
Most people are already prisoners in their own homes and are pretty much slaves who are just living to work and working extra hard to keep themselves believing there's any real point to any of it at all.

Harsh.......but true for way to many people in this country

a reply to: Grambler

Which is why he said minor criminals

Can you name one MINOR offense in which it carries a prison sentence ?

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Grambler

Which is why he said minor criminals

Can you name one MINOR offense in which it carries a prison sentence ?

Minor not as in young person, but nit significant

I took him to mean nonviolent, like drug possession, tax evasion, insurance fraud

a reply to: annoyedpharmacist

Actully on House arrest you still have to work and pay your Bill's life goes on as normal with a few inconveniences plus you have to work to pay your fines and restitution on top of doing community service which they do not allow you to start until your done with house arrest and has to be done by the date they give you . I had to complete 750 hours of community service in 24 months which is pretty hard while working 40 hours a week to pay for your life and their restitution, So they kinda set you up to fail if your a bad guy and do not cooperate. I was a young guy 25 years ago got involved with a telemarketing company that got busted by the Feds didnt matter that I was young and naive . So I took a plea deal because they haunted me for over 7 years while they did their investigation and finally indicted everyone I was over it by then , Was like no Jail time fine I'll aggree to whatever you want . By the way the AG's office had a sign above his door that said I can indict a ham sandwich so once your in their sights it's over my case the owner of the company told them to pound sand so they did but it was his sand and everyone that worked for him all because he transferred and received money across state lines . I never considered myself a criminal or even think I did anything wrong but they disagreed. I did not want to go to jail so house arrest worked in my situation.

I don't believe there are any deterrent's really, people make choices, they think they won't get caught. If prison as a deterrent worked, the U.S. would have a much lower incarceration rate.

For "some" crimes I'm sure house arrest is a much more cost effective option.

originally posted by: Grambler

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: Grambler

Which is why he said minor criminals

Can you name one MINOR offense in which it carries a prison sentence ?

Minor not as in young person, but nit significant

I took him to mean nonviolent, like drug possession, tax evasion, insurance fraud

All the ones mentioned are not minor offenses
They are federal offenses

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

I say go for it if it's a victimeless crime. Better yet no punishment at all if there is no victim, just saying.

So you can keep on selling drugs ,buying stolen items . The same thing your under house arrest for.

Victimless crimes

Whats the deterrent ?

Does anybody go to prison on a first offense minor crime . Most have hand their hand slapped multiple times and didn't learn.
Prison only serves one purpose to keep scum off the street for as long as law allows.

No.

Let them stay at home watching TV and playing games, hanging out with their posse?

Bad idea. This would likely embolden criminals, not dissuade them.

Edit to add: If anything, we need harsher punishments for the harsher crimes.

Keep prisons, but make them an entirely horrific experience.
Hard Labour and no luxuries.
For more serious crime, bring back the death penalty.

Very odd that all the discussion seems to be about compassion for criminals, yet very little thought is ever given to the victims.

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

Im no bleeding heart liberal, but there are far too many people in jail right now whose 'crimes' barely even warrant community service. let alone a custodial sentence. A lot of them seem to be there because the justice system is broken.

Often they are young black men. Yeah, i know how it sounds, but Im a conservative, and this seems wrong to me.

People get put in jail simply because they cant afford bail, and when they go on trial their sentence is less than time served on bail., or they get told to pay some cash and go away. Things like busted tail lights shouldn't send you to jail.

I say short sentences should be done as community service, and jay walking should be considered a first amendment right.

a reply to: Grambler

Thanks for pointing that out. Here in the UK 'minor' in the context of crime conversations usually means 'not too serious'. Of course our legal language in terms of laws & how the courts use legalese, then 'minor' can & does mean 'juvenile' under some circumstances. Usually in everday speech we would just use the word 'child' to describe any victim of crime which was being discussed in general terms: "The defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of assault against the victim, a child aged seven years old.." (etc). Our press usually refers to child victims as 'children' rather than minors. "Serving booze/alcohol to minors" is common to hear though, probably so it doesn't sound as grim as the other types of offences against chlildren.

a reply to: MajorAce

I don't call drug dealing a minor offence. Drug use should be a medical issue, not a criminal issue.

I think heavily prosecuted house arrest for fraud & scamming should keep people under control, but you would have to freeze their assets while they're doing the time, so they couldn't host wild parties & score craploads of coke while they're penned up in their own house. Make it a lean six months working a mandated community service job with food stamps & only $5 pocket change, with daily exercise classes in the gym (collect by bus, returned by bus) to stay fit if you're living in a small place & can't easily exercise at home.

New growth industry for the gym memberships...?