should punishment in america be more harsh to prevent crime?

Question

In other countries they have much much lower crime rates than in america, what could we do to lower the crime rate?

Answer 1

Much more harsh....

Plea bargains when enough evidence for a conviction exists should NOT be an option

If you are sentenced to 20 years, you should do 20 years, not 5 and time off for "good behavior". Where was your "good behavior BEFORE you went to jail?

Death penalty is a must, 2-3 appeals tops, not people spending 20 years on death row.

Prisons should be in camps for minor offenses. They should live in tents with no air or TV.

Chain gangs are a must.....

Seem like only the criminals are treated with dignity and respect, we don't worry about the civil rights of their victims.


There go the Liberals!!!! ANN D can you please show how many crimes are committed by law abiding handgun owners?

NONE!!! So why take them from the innocent and violate our Second Amendment Rights?

Answer 2

Punishment isn't the problem. The only kind of harsher punishment that could help prevent crime is harsher punishment on white-collar crime.

According to the Home Office, "The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population". Harsher sentences won't prevent crime and would just up that disgusting percentage.

However, you may have a point if you aim that punishment toward the crimes of the rich and heads of corporations that manipulate and sometimes create conditions where they profit off of low-class, more common crime.

Answer 3

we could make some drugs legal like weed that would lower some of the crime. yes other country's have done this. also if we make prostitution legal that that would lower the crime rates newzealand did this and it stopped allot of the funding to drug dealers. and they tax the massage parlors where the prostitutes work so now they get the money. another big one is look at our courts they are makeing money for the state traffic tickets etc. what gets me mad is that if i speed thru a bad neaboorhood ill get a ticket but the drug dealors stand out there and deal drugs all day. the cops go after the honest folk because they know they will pay. they make no money off busting a drug dealor it cost money so you tell me who gets the good end of the deal ?

Answer 4

there are 2 things that prevent crime. And surprisingly one of them has nothing to do with punnishment. It has to do with having strong families. When families are in tact, and love eachother, and there is a mom and a dad in the home, who care about their kids, where the dad works and brings home the money, and the mom is home with the kids. That is the biggest single factor on earth that decides the kind of society we will have, and the level of crime that the society will face.

As we have watched over the last 60 years, as the familys of society have come more and more under attack, we've seen crime rates skyrocket. And it will continue to get worse as the family becomes less and less important in america.

As we watch less and less wemen making men wait till marriage to have sex, as we see more and more people just living together and shacking up, you will continue to see crime get out of control.

As for the punnishment aspect. I would be for a different kind of punnishment. I think for most misdemeanors, it should require what they do in singapore. Public spanking with a cane. You take someone into the town square, pull down their pants, put it on TV, and wack them with a Kane. The number of wacks, depends on the severity of the crime.

Hey, it works in singapore.

Answer 5

If you can find a study that links lower crime rates to harsher sentencing - why not. But you wouldn't find such a study.

Crime is more tied to socio-economic issues rather than punishment issues.

If you want to reduce crime, reduce the reasons why people turn to crime. When people feel good about themselves, feel valued in thier community, and percieve that they have a decent chance to make a living - they will do so.

Answer 6

I think the law needs to be upheld equally for everyone without exception. There also needs to be restitution for every crime. I have a friend that tried to get to come to her church because the minister preached that although you are forgiven by God, you still owe restitution to the person you hurt, the family of the person, and your community as a whole and anyone else damaged in anyway by your doings. I like the idea of forgiveness with restitution. Same with crime-Ok you've done your punishment, now make it right with everyone you damaged.

Answer 7

no punishment..not even the death punishment prevents of deters crime..

what's sad is that the justice dept know this to be fact.

most other country's with lower crimes have lower freedom levels. They are not morally better than another country. They have fewer freedoms that produce the crime.

Answer 8

In other countries, their punishment rate is much less than America, so does harder punishment = lower crime?

Many countries don't have death penalties anymore. America still does, does that mean America has less murders?

Maybe America should stop locking up its citizens and spend that money on education and job training. I know it's a stretch to think that people with skills would actually work instead of rob and steal, but it might happen. Only thing America has to lose is the millions it pays private institutions to run criminal colleges..I mean prisons.

Answer 9

America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The US incarcerates 702 of ever 100,000 adults. Canada, on the other hand, locks up 139 of every 100,000. Russia is the only country that comes close, at 628.

As such, it seems clear that harsher punishment has been a complete failure, unless you happen to own prisons.

Answer 10

Crime in America is not at an all time high, but is high - and there are more Americans in jail then any other time in history - so it appears that more time in jail, or a harsher punishment is NOT a deterrent for those committing crimes.