Harsh Sentencing Guidelines = the KEY to a world of low crime and safety

[AdamC]

This is a rough draft for a letter to my representatives. I live in Texas, a state well known and honored for our hard on crime policies.

There has been plenty of disinfomation regarding how to keep crime rates low. They bring up the rehabilitation, but the evidence shows that re-offend rates still occur in high numbers. In reality, criminals who murder and rape once out of prison will return to a life of crime. They committed such horrific acts because they are monsters. We cannot change that. PERIOD. They are fundamentally horrible people and deserve to be treated horribly.
Here in the US, we have some of the strictest sentencing guidelines yet our recidivism rates are well above 50%. If it were not for these guidelines, we would have recidivism in the 80s or even 90% range.

Murder rates have been on the steady decline
Thanks to harsher punishments for murderers, increasing use of life without parole, would be murderers begin to think twice before pulling the trigger. There is a hidden bonus: Those sentenced to life without parole will spend huge portions of their life in solitary confinement. They will be made to suffer tremendously for their horrific crimes. This will give closer to the victims which "rehabilitation" does not give.

Tough on crime deters criminals, gives closer to victims families. From a common sense perspective, this knocks out two birds with two stones... In a made up world, if there was a magical rehabilitation pill that somehow instantly rehabilitates a murderer or rapist, yes, he would not be a threat, but victims families would not receive justice, only one bird will be knocked out, therefor, we should not worry about rehabilitation of violent criminals of rape and murder and just throw away the key, literally, leave them in solitary confinement or just execute them. MAKE THIS PUBLIC. There will not be much deterrence if people do not know of the extreme isolation and suffering that goes on. Making this public will detur would be criminals AND restoring the moral and confidence in the system.

Part of being safe is that victims families will have closure. There is not much "safety" for society if victims are left thrusting for retribution and revenge. They are entitled to retribution and fair compensation for the harm done to them. Murder should be manditory life without parole in solitary confinement without anmemities. You eat, sleep, excrete. During non sleeping hours, you are not allowed to sit in the beed, nap, or lean on any walls. Failure to do so will result in 50 lashes.

It is very important that this is also filmed, and the public has easy access to witness the punishments carried out...

.MURDER should be MANDITORY life without the possibility of parole in solitary. PERIOD.
.Rape should be MANDITORY life without the possibility of parole (Does not need to be in solitary)

By carrying out the new sentencing guidelines AND making the public well aware of the extreme isolation and harsh punishments carried out, we can expect a rapid decline in the cases of murder and rape. It's time to put an end to "soft gentle justice" and embrace real justice.

[Tradewind]

There's a point where it ceases to be about justice and just becomes vengeance.

[AdamC]

There's a point where it ceases to be about justice and just becomes vengeance.

Life without parole can be seen as both. It PROTECTS US, but it also gives justice for the victims families. I made a petition calling for this as a mandatory sentence in Washington petition website but they keep taking it down because "it would not be constitutional" which I don't get.

[Orbitus]

This is a rough draft for a letter to my representatives. I live in Texas, a state well known and honored for our hard on crime policies.

There has been plenty of disinfomation regarding how to keep crime rates low. They bring up the rehabilitation, but the evidence shows that re-offend rates still occur in high numbers. In reality, criminals who murder and rape once out of prison will return to a life of crime. They committed such horrific acts because they are monsters. We cannot change that. PERIOD. They are fundamentally horrible people and deserve to be treated horribly.
Here in the US, we have some of the strictest sentencing guidelines yet our recidivism rates are well above 50%. If it were not for these guidelines, we would have recidivism in the 80s or even 90% range.

Murder rates have been on the steady decline
Thanks to harsher punishments for murderers, increasing use of life without parole, would be murderers begin to think twice before pulling the trigger. There is a hidden bonus: Those sentenced to life without parole will spend huge portions of their life in solitary confinement. They will be made to suffer tremendously for their horrific crimes. This will give closer to the victims which "rehabilitation" does not give.

Tough on crime deters criminals, gives closer to victims families. From a common sense perspective, this knocks out two birds with two stones... In a made up world, if there was a magical rehabilitation pill that somehow instantly rehabilitates a murderer or rapist, yes, he would not be a threat, but victims families would not receive justice, only one bird will be knocked out, therefor, we should not worry about rehabilitation of violent criminals of rape and murder and just throw away the key, literally, leave them in solitary confinement or just execute them. MAKE THIS PUBLIC. There will not be much deterrence if people do not know of the extreme isolation and suffering that goes on. Making this public will detur would be criminals AND restoring the moral and confidence in the system.

Part of being safe is that victims families will have closure. There is not much "safety" for society if victims are left thrusting for retribution and revenge. They are entitled to retribution and fair compensation for the harm done to them. Murder should be manditory life without parole in solitary confinement without anmemities. You eat, sleep, excrete. During non sleeping hours, you are not allowed to sit in the beed, nap, or lean on any walls. Failure to do so will result in 50 lashes.

It is very important that this is also filmed, and the public has easy access to witness the punishments carried out...

.MURDER should be MANDITORY life without the possibility of parole in solitary. PERIOD.
.Rape should be MANDITORY life without the possibility of parole (Does not need to be in solitary)

By carrying out the new sentencing guidelines AND making the public well aware of the extreme isolation and harsh punishments carried out, we can expect a rapid decline in the cases of murder and rape. It's time to put an end to "soft gentle justice" and embrace real justice.

Yeah that won't fly. Considering you will run out of solitary confinement rather quickly and you would probably require building of new prisons to fuel the prison industrial complex. Also against the constitution under the "cruel and unusual punishment" with the 50 lashes crap. This isn't a dictatorship where they could enact shit like that.

[Bdatik]

You have any sources or evidence to support your claim? Because feelings aren't a good enough justification in my book.

[AdamC]

You have any sources or evidence to support your claim? Because feelings aren't a good enough justification in my book.

Unless the government agrees to try, we will never find out. Part of justice is making hard decisions. It's experimentation. Inact the new sentencing guidelines on the federal level for 5 years, see if the homicide and rape cases decline, if they decline, keep the guidelines, if they don't, well act least family victimizers get some closure.

[Tradewind]

Life without parole can be seen as both. It PROTECTS US, but it also gives justice for the victims families. I made a petition calling for this as a mandatory sentence in Washington petition website but they keep taking it down because "it would not be constitutional" which I don't get.

No, mandatory minimums (especially ones this harsh) serve no purpose other than being vengeful. Prison is a matter of rehabilitation, not just locking everybody away forever...that plan is untenable. Are there some people who deserve to be? Sure. But not every one of them. That's why there's discretion involved in sentencing.

[Bdatik]

Unless the government agrees to try, we will never find out. Part of justice is making hard decisions. It's experimentation. Inact the new sentencing guidelines on the federal level for 5 years, see if the homicide and rape cases decline, if they decline, keep the guidelines, if they don't, well act least family victimizers get some closure.

So you have zero evidence to support your claims, but you want the government to spend billions of dollars to experiment with the criminal justice system because you're about vengeance rather than justice?

[Xenryusho]

You have any sources or evidence to support your claim? Because feelings aren't a good enough justification in my book.

He says that there's a large rate of return to crime because 'rehabilitation' doesn't work, though, I see absolutely no effort being made to rehabilitate prisoners in the first place. Not to mention that his correlation isn't supported by any evidence. Had he provided something concrete there might be a discussion.

Regardless, there's no way that I can support torturing anyone in such a terribly corrupt system, let alone a hyper-monitored police state where the average citizen commits several felonies a day unknowingly.

[AdamC]

No, mandatory minimums (especially ones this harsh) serve no purpose other than being vengeful. Prison is a matter of rehabilitation, not just locking everybody away forever...that plan is untenable. Are there some people who deserve to be? Sure. But not every one of them. That's why there's discretion involved in sentencing.

You should research "deterrence theory". There is a reason why spanking is an effective method of discipline. If a sibling sees their brother/sister spanked, they know not to break the house rule again. Well our country has a house rule: Do not murder or rape, you will face SEVERE CONSEQUENCES.

If a child will only get a slap on the wrist, which for murder would be the equivalent to 20 year prison sentence, there would not be much deterence. But if the child were spanked 10 times, which would be for murder life without parole, there would be plenty of deterrence.

[Tradewind]

You should research "deterrence theory". There is a reason why spanking is an effective method of discipline. If a sibling sees their brother/sister spanked, they know not to break the house rule again. Well our country has a house rule: Do not murder or rape, you will face SEVERE CONSEQUENCES.

If a child will only get a slap on the wrist, which for murder would be the equivalent to 20 year prison sentence, there would not be much deterence. But if the child were spanked 10 times, which would be for murder life without parole, there would be plenty of deterrence.

You should research something...anything...instead of boring us with this nonsense.

In many states the death penalty exists for convicted murderers...yet it still happens. Clearly the "deterrence" is not working.

[AdamC]

So you have zero evidence to support your claims, but you want the government to spend billions of dollars to experiment with the criminal justice system because you're about vengeance rather than justice?

We spent billions on experiments all the time? The whole point is to exhaust ALL POSSIBLE ways to keep the public safe. It will pay off big time in the long run. When did i say I am only about vengeance? How is life without parole about vengeance? What the heck are you talking about. This is about BOTH, safety AND retribution.

[Elegiac]

You should research "deterrence theory"

And you should research basic operant conditioning.

Punishment doesn't teach morality.

[AdamC]

You should research something...anything...instead of boring us with this nonsense.

In many states the death penalty exists for convicted murderers...yet it still happens. Clearly the "deterrence" is not working.

Yeah, cause the death penalty IS NOT A REAL PUNISHMENT, you are basically just forcing them to step into "the void", we do not know what the void looks like, it could be absolutely NOTHING, or an afterlife. It's not a real punishment. PERIOD.

[Emjay18]

This reads as tough guy-wannabe nonsense that will also involve lots of bitching about taxes if the government does decide to spend billions.

50 lashes? Lmao, this isn't the middle east. Maybe one day you'll learn the difference between vengeance and justice, and their difference from a silly misanthrope.

[Independent voter]

Well, prisoners rehabilitate themselves. It's like only alcoholics can cure themselves.

Once a man hit's 50 years of age or so, he is much less likely to commit a crime, putting a 20 year old behind bars for 30 years would cut down on crime.

[MerinPally]

Here in the US, we have some of the strictest sentencing guidelines yet our recidivism rates are well above 50%. If it were not for these guidelines, we would have recidivism in the 80s or even 90% range.

Citation needed, because a large number of studies say the exact opposite. As do crime rates across Europe. They infact state the exact opposite of what you do. So you're gona need several citations.

[Revi]

There's no data that shows the efficiency of stricter/softer sentencing that accounts of socioeconomic situation and actual prison conditions. Just wanted to get that out of the way before people start praising the Scandinavian model or the super tough 3rd world nation model.

What happens to them after they come out (job opportunity, general reception in society, getting away from the old crime culture) likely matters a whole lot more, as well as the quality of their sentencing (reeducating, treating disorders, avoiding criminal culture on the inside).

The length of the sentence stops being being particularly relevant past a certain point, and is certainly not what you want to be looking at to reduce crime recidivism.

[AdamC]

And you should research basic operant conditioning.

Punishment doesn't teach morality.

That's not the point. You either know right from wrong or you don't. The point of LWOP is you scare potential violators of the consequences of their actions.

[Tradewind]

Yeah, cause the death penalty IS NOT A REAL PUNISHMENT, you are basically just forcing them to step into "the void", we do not know what the void looks like, it could be absolutely NOTHING, or an afterlife. It's not a real punishment. PERIOD.

So the alternative is to force them into a cell, until they die. Good alternative...

I like when youths get involved in politics, but this is ridiculous.