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Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by Jtsummers on Saturday November 16, 2013 @01:21AM (#6743904)
1) I've not seen the numbers, but I'll concede that's likely true, particularly on highways.

2) For someone who wants long sentences for other offenses, it seems odd that you don't see that control of speed (particularly on city streets, my view on highway speed limits is different) and ticketing of speeders is also a pretty effective mitigator of reckless driving on those same streets. It doesn't stop it, we'll never stop crime until everyone becomes a saint (IOW, never), but reducing the occurrence is a nice tradeoff.

Now that that's out of the way, care to respond to the part where you suggest the cost of life in prison (to the taxpayers) is worth preventing 3 more non-violent burglaries (if he keeps to his average)?

Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by thaumasiotes on Saturday November 16, 2013 @01:33AM (#6743940)
"If the cost of keeping him out of [society] exceeds the cost he inflicts by his presence, I'd say we should keep him incarcerated and spend less"
Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by kayoone on Saturday November 16, 2013 @01:40AM (#6743957)
You know what it costs to imprison a human being for 40-50 years? I doubt it outweighs a couple of stolen wallets...
Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by thaumasiotes on Saturday November 16, 2013 @01:52AM (#6743983)
Party of the first part: If condition C holds, response R is called for.

Party of the second part (indignant): But condition C holds!

What's your point?

Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by nitrogen on Saturday November 16, 2013 @04:52AM (#6744302)
50 years of imprisonment at a guesstimated cost of $30000/year: $1.5mil. Cost of two wallets: $100.
Re:A living death: Sentenced to die behind bars for what? by rlanday on Saturday November 16, 2013 @11:47AM (#6745366)
What about the huge time cost of replacing everything that was in the wallet, if replaceable, and the intangible emotional feelings of insecurity that result from letting wallet-stealers run free stealing wallets? Probably doesn’t exceed $1.5 million, but to say the cost of a wallet theft is only $50 shows absolutely no sympathy for a victim, and is not that far removed from saying, “well, the guy who stole it probably needed the money more than you do.”