Land of the free

[Warpe]

"The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/us...d7c&ei=5087%0A

Discuss.

[will641]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

[BankItDrew]

Crime exists where there are large gaps between the upper and lower class. The reason for this, cannot be summed up within one sentence. Opportunities for success, habitat vs. geography, drug abuse, affects from society/peers, etc. are all a few of the many factors.

[d0zer]

The BS war on drugs has a lot to do with that.

A good chunk of those 'criminals' were dudes busted with dimebags. The punishment dun fit the crime methinks...

[BankItDrew]

I've received 3 speeding tickets and have been caught with small amounts of weed a couple times. Every time, the ticket was reduced on the spot, and I was given a "stern warning."

Canada is great.

[Warpe]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

OMG IT'S A LEFT WING MEDIA CONSPIRACY!!!

phhfffftt

[Lukie]

Two things immediately come to mind:

1. War on drugs
2. Lots of ethnicities (i.e. "melting pot") and large differences in socio-economic status.

I don't have a problem with tough prison sentences. Do the crime, pay the time. Non-violent drug crimes are an exception. It's ridiculous to spend decades in prison for a non-violent crime that does not hurt other people.

One thing that jumped out from the article: "Burglars in the United States serve an average of 16 months in prison, according to Mr. Mauer, compared with 5 months in Canada and 7 months in England."

ASSuming this is accurate, 5 months for an average burglar in Canada?? For breaking into somebody's home and stealing stuff? That is ridiculous. Five years, or shot on the spot by a responsible gun owner. Those seem like much better results.

[gabe]

war on drugs

period

[BankItDrew]

War on drug dealers.

Users should be able to do what they want to their body.

[jackvance]

.. some other countries just mass kill their criminals maybe? (like China)

[Schiplt]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

will you crack me up

[will641]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

OMG IT'S A LEFT WING MEDIA CONSPIRACY!!!

phhfffftt

did you ever stop and think what would happen if we didnt have harsher sentences, and let more violent criminals roam the streets? more rapes, more murders, more crime. there is a tone in this article that sending criminals to prison is a bad thing.

i agree with others that war on drugs is stupid and a waste of time. instead of worrying about weed peddlers, lets worry about keeping child molesters and rapists in prison for as long as possible. lets focus on getting jessica's law passed in every state.

[Warpe]

"tone"?

example please.

[d0zer]

I've received 3 speeding tickets and have been caught with small amounts of weed a couple times. Every time, the ticket was reduced on the spot, and I was given a "stern warning."

Canada is great.

[IowaSkinsFan]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

Ad Hominem

[Deanglow]

.. some other countries just mass kill their criminals maybe? (like China)

wat

[Galapogos]

I've received 3 speeding tickets and have been caught with small amounts of weed a couple times. Every time, the ticket was reduced on the spot, and I was given a "stern warning."

Canada is great.

I don't touch any drugs at all. It makes me feel like I'm wasting one of the cooler privileges Canada offers.

[tom]

I wonder what sort of police force per population we have in the US compared to other countries.

[Jack Sawyer]

given the source i cant give it any credibility.

Ad Hominem

My new favorite words

[spoonitnow]

MAN I SAW THIS COP AND I WAS LIKE FUCK DA PO-LEASE

[ProZachNation]

Wesley Sniopes gets 3 years in prison for tax shit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080424/...ipes_tax_trial

WTF make an example of him.

I am pissed like all the fucking hollywood cock smocking whores drive drunk and snort coke off each other but they get probation. A cool dude like Snipes gets 3 years. Fuck this shit.

[spoonitnow]

If it was Seinfeld, would he have been convicted? Y/N/M

[will641]

Wesley Sniopes gets 3 years in prison for tax shit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080424/...ipes_tax_trial

WTF make an example of him.

I am pissed like all the fucking hollywood cock smocking whores drive drunk and snort coke off each other but they get probation. A cool dude like Snipes gets 3 years. Fuck this shit.

im just curious exactly what you think is cool about wesley snipes.

driving drunk - not a felony
snorting coke - not a felony
tax evasion - felony

[Jack Sawyer]

snorting coke - not a felony

O RLY?

I was genuinely intrigued by this, so I did a quick google search, and I found this Cop forum

Originally Posted by dj chomp
"I can say without hesitation that i screwed up big and used marijuana when i was in college (over the maximum amount allowed)."

I do not support the use of drugs. One reason I want to be a cop is to curb Arizona's drug infestation. However, I disagree with how strict the past drug use rules are in the application process. Why cant someone make some bad decisions and learn from them? I think if you can demonstrate that you aren't going to make the same dumb choices you should have an equal opportunity for employment.

I have smoked weed at least 20 times, and I tried snorting coke twice and I even ate some shrooms once upon a time. So what? It was high school. I was never addicted, it was all socially normal fun. Since then Ive been clean and morally opposed to drugs. Ive seen what long term use can do to people and I want to become a cop. Why not?

Mistake or not, it's illegal. Coke, Shrooms, that's all FELONY'S. Which you knew about. You knew it was a felony crime doing them, and you blatantly disregarded the law, and done them anyways. THATS why it is quite a bad thing in the hiring process.

You want to curb Arizona's drug infestation, but yet, you view your own usage as "socially normal fun"? Smoked weed at least 20 times and you say you were never addicted?? Come on...

You need to take a look at other career fields, because this one just isn't going to work out for you.

And

Originally Posted by dj chomp
I have smoked weed at least 20 times, and I tried snorting coke twice and I even ate some shrooms once upon a time. So what? It was high school. I was never addicted, it was all socially normal fun. Since then Ive been clean and morally opposed to drugs.

You're currently "morally opposed to drugs" and yet in the sentence before state that usage of coke and shrooms is "socially normal fun"?

Could a Moderator close this thread to maintain its integrity?

[spoonitnow]

Wesley Sniopes gets 3 years in prison for tax shit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080424/...ipes_tax_trial

WTF make an example of him.

I am pissed like all the fucking hollywood cock smocking whores drive drunk and snort coke off each other but they get probation. A cool dude like Snipes gets 3 years. Fuck this shit.

im just curious exactly what you think is cool about wesley snipes.

driving drunk - not a felony
snorting coke - not a felony
tax evasion - felony

The charges against him were not felony offenses fwiw.

[will641]

If it was Seinfeld, would he have been convicted? Y/N/M

so since he is black it must have been racism.

[Lukie]

I've received 3 speeding tickets and have been caught with small amounts of weed a couple times. Every time, the ticket was reduced on the spot, and I was given a "stern warning."

Canada is great.

I don't touch any drugs at all. It makes me feel like I'm wasting one of the cooler privileges Canada offers.

cool? maybe.

you're far better off without them, though.

[will641]

you are right he got charged with misdemeanors spoon. was it that he didnt pay taxes on $38 million, or that he owed $38 million? in either case, its a lot of money. my stance on it is this, if you are the government, and you have a high profile case like this where a guy very deliberately did not pay taxes because hes apart of some group that thinks taxing is unconstitutional, they dont have a choice but to send him to prison for a long time. its like, if you dont, then that says to every tax payer in america, take a chance, worse comes to worse, you get some probation. if that happens, nobody will pay taxes, and teh irs wont be able to do a damn thing about it.

also jack, i am pretty sure it depends on the amount of cocaine on your person that makes it a felony. im not positive on this, but if you get caught with a very small amount, i really doubt its a felony.

another thing to point out, is that the celebs getting busted for dui's and possession of illegal substance, we dont know what their past records are, therefore cant pass a final judgment on the kind of leniency they are getting with their sentences. nobody is going to get prison time on their first offense for poss., or a dui. it just doesnt happen. snipes has a fairly long list of offenses. dont know what they include, but i know he has a record.

[euphoricism]

all possession of cocaine is a felony. Less than 3 grams is a class D, getcha 1-3 years.

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/substnce/crack.htm

[spoonitnow]

If it was Seinfeld, would he have been convicted? Y/N/M

so since he is black it must have been racism.

It's a serious question.

[will641]

If it was Seinfeld, would he have been convicted? Y/N/M

so since he is black it must have been racism.

It's a serious question.

i know its a serious question. my serious answer would be under the exact circumstances of being apart of a cult of people that believe its unconstitutional or never says its illegal to not pay or whatever, AND had a long record, then yes.

[ProZachNation]

another thing to point out, is that the celebs getting busted for dui's and possession of illegal substance, we dont know what their past records are, therefore cant pass a final judgment on the kind of leniency they are getting with their sentences. nobody is going to get prison time on their first offense for poss., or a dui. it just doesnt happen. snipes has a fairly long list of offenses. dont know what they include, but i know he has a record.

Will please at least read the article if you are going to argue

They argued he should get only probation because his three convictions were all misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.

[spoonitnow]

another thing to point out, is that the celebs getting busted for dui's and possession of illegal substance, we dont know what their past records are, therefore cant pass a final judgment on the kind of leniency they are getting with their sentences. nobody is going to get prison time on their first offense for poss., or a dui. it just doesnt happen. snipes has a fairly long list of offenses. dont know what they include, but i know he has a record.

Will please at least read the article if you are going to argue

They argued he should get only probation because his three convictions were all misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.

lol pwned

[will641]

another thing to point out, is that the celebs getting busted for dui's and possession of illegal substance, we dont know what their past records are, therefore cant pass a final judgment on the kind of leniency they are getting with their sentences. nobody is going to get prison time on their first offense for poss., or a dui. it just doesnt happen. snipes has a fairly long list of offenses. dont know what they include, but i know he has a record.

Will please at least read the article if you are going to argue

They argued he should get only probation because his three convictions were all misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.

lol pwned

youre right. i heard about this article on the news while i was making dinner, so i mustve just heard incorrectly what they were saying, about him not having a record. i hope you dont think i would deliberately lie like that, when anyone could easily prove me wrong.

that being said, you took one point i made, and made my whole argument invalid. you think he got treated unfairly? his codefendants got convicted of felony's and got 10 years, and 4.5 years. snipes got off relatively easy imo. his acquittals of the felony tax fraud was bullshit, if you want to talk about celebrity favortism.

yeah thanks for pwning me so hard.