Comments on: British Burglars Could Go Free!

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:31:40 +0000

it's an important class equality statement that we treat someone who steals from a pension fund the same as someone who steals from a liquor store.

Very different things, unless you're talking burglary. Robbing a liquor store is a violent crime.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:09:38 +0000

There's a growing consensus that petty drug use does not deserve jail time; beyond that, it's hard to make a long list of the kinds of criminals any of us would prefer to see insulated from jail as a matter of policy.

I'd object to easing up on either drunk drivers or white-collar criminals... in the first case, the fear of imprisonment is an important counterbalance to the sense of entitlement a lot of people have towards drinking and driving, and in the second, it's an important class equality statement that we treat someone who steals from a pension fund the same as someone who steals from a liquor store.

By: DL

DL — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:50:00 +0000

I have no problem with burglars going free if they follow the NIMBY rules.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:45:21 +0000

As long, I suppose, as they don't try to sell encyclopedias.