Is there anyone else out there who feels that the laws should be made stiffer for crimes?

Question

with all the crimes committed today murders, drive by shootings,etc. Why do these crimnals get by so easy? There should be stiffer penalties for crimes, and it should start with the juvinal devision and go on up.I feel that if you are old enough to know right from wrong then you are accountible for what you do at 12 you know killing is wrong then tried as adult. and cut the appeals process if you are guilty then limit the amount of times on appeals and do what must be done.

Answer 1

NO. Just the opposite. First
(a) Scientific studies have shown that an adolescent brain is not fully developed, and although may be able to tell "right from wrong," does not actually comprehend the consequences of actions. Further, putting juvies in adult facilities does nothing but make little mini hardened criminals. It is in the juvi system that we can actually make some headway in "rehabilitation," because juvis are often amenable to that. Throwing away the key is just giving up.
(b) Every person gets ONLY one appeal. Under special circumstances, the person may petition for a "writ of habeas corpus" or "collaterally attack" his sentence, either in state or federal court. These special types of challenges are VERY VERY narrow (usually only for ineffective assistance of counsel, when the government or trial violated constitutional rights, or new evidence of "actual innocence" arises), and the U.S. habeas process has been limited even more in the past decade. Hardly any habeas cases are successful.
P.S. to the commenter who talked about criminals "getting out on technicalities," the Constitution is NOT a technicality. When officers violate it, the penalty might be an acquittal. But the protection of those basic human rights is worth that, so the government doesn't randomly search your house; beat you to near death to extract a conviction, and then try you without you being able to confront your accusers.
(c) If you're talking about the death sentence on appeal, we want to be SURE that the person is guilty. Of course, it now appears that there are more irregularieis in death trials than even the "regular" type (because of the inflamed passions due to the horrendous crimes and because of underfunded public defenders). That's why more states are slowing down, not speeding up, the capital process.
(d) For other crimes, punishments are harsh enough! Federal drug sentences, in particular, are completely out of whack with society's expectations. They cause prison overcrowding and put an enormous tax burden on taxpayers. Since about the early 90s, sentences have kept going up and up, and while the crime rate is down (because SO many people are in prison) violent crime rates are much more closely tied to economics and social stability than sentences. In most states, we've seen sentences RELAXED (especially for drug crimes, and except for sex offenses and corporate crime) in the past few years. And crime has not skyrocketed.
P.S. to the commenter about judges' sentences--that's almost completely a lie today. In almost every system, either (a) the judge must follow "sentencing guidelines" propounded by an agency or the legislature that defines the ranges for punishment for a crime (plus aggravating / mitigating factors plus the offender's criminal history) or (b) the sentence is determined by a parole board after a certain amount of time has passed.
(e) "With all the crimes committed today"? Where are you statistics? The local news? Which just likes to sensationalize violent stories? Violent crime is actually down from decades past. Now, if you live in a gang-infested urban area, I'm sure you see crime every day. And something certainly should be done about that. But just willy-nilly increasing sentences across the board is NOT going to stop gang violence.

Answer 2

I definitely feel the penalties should be stiffer and maybe the crime rate would go down, It should start with juvenile because when they start that young they just get worst. They know as a juvenile that will get a slap on the wrist and they can continue what they were doing. The appeals should definitely be cut they just keep appealing and nothing ever gets done!

Answer 3

Your premise is fine, the trouble is paying for new prison facilities. In most states the cost of housing a prisoner is close to $25K per year, and that doesn't include capital expenses for building new prisons. In order for those convicted to actually serve the entire sentence, we would need to quadruple prison space. If everybody would agree to have their taxes raised by 50% we might have enough money.
As for appeals, sure they take too long, but every once in a while someone who was wrongly convicted gets a chance to prove it.
Alternatively, we could just authorize police to shoot people who they think are guilty and then let God sort it out. That sounds a little like Saddam Hussain's definition of justice.

Answer 4

responsibility is key in life. another thing i fail to understand is that if a man gets sentenced for 25 years then he stays there 25 years. i think it is ridiculous that any human can get sentenced to 3 life terms. life, 25. 48.....all these terms are defined already and the numbers are known values. simple, serious penalties are a must as well. decriminalization of some things is fundamental as well. take several old unused laws off the books. give all federal representatives as well as senators term limits. make a serious effort to make this country truly respectable.i also think once you do go to jail and spend time you lod\se most rights other than human. your are in probate you lose your rights. the system spends too much money to provide access and freebies to the prisoners. earn your way out. no intermingling. spend less money on giving the criminals rights and more on the people who risk thier own lives to guard them . in america we have criminals filing suits against the people they rob and assault. free the courts of garbage lawsuits and again, attempt to make this country what it claims to already be.

Answer 5

Absolutely! And I would also like to see more of the, Let the punishment if the Crime, take affect. Too many times have I see serious offences get a slap on the wrist, while pety criminals lose everything. Could there be favoritism in the legal system. Or is it all about, How much will you pay me to let you go!.

Answer 6

Absolutely. There doesn't seem to be any uniformity or consistency to the judge's decisions. One gives lighter sentences over another for the same crime.

I really believe that youth offences are too lenient and thus do not provide a measure of deterrence to encourage them to stop the inappropriate behaviour.

All these appeal processes are expensive and I've heard of cases where things are turned over on technicalities which then result in freedom for the criminal who then goes out and violates someone else or someone else's property.

Getting out of jail for time served during a trial process is ludicrous.

If they say you get life in prison, it is life...no time off for good behaviour.

Answer 7

The laws aren't the problem. The problem is the people who enforce, interpret and punish. Rehabilitation is supposed to work and turn a one time criminal into a productive citizen.
Prison overcrowding is a huge problem, where are they going to put the ones they actually catch and prosecute?
I'm not disagreeing with you, I think if you do the crime you should do the time but the way the system is now...time is short if served at all.
Perhaps if we emptied death row .......

Answer 8

totally! i think the person responsible should be punished (as brutally as possible depending on the crime) in front of everyone in order to send out a message to all the public and stop anyone from doing so in the future.

Answer 9

Stiffer penalties are as placebo for sickness.
A false light for public eye

A sure and ensured penalty matters

Answer 10

Yes. We need to bring back gool old fashioned "hard time". No more parole, no more probation. We need to build a lot more prisons in the US and it doesn't have to cost alot either. Maricopa County, AZ has their inmates living in tents. The Sheriff like to brag it costs more to feed his K-9s ($6.00 a day) than his inmates, he has prisoner meals down to $0.40 per serving.