211–220 of 410 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this 1/3 of the current prison population, or is it 1/3 of prison sentences handout in a certain period? I could believe the latter. But I assume that sentences for fare evasion are shorter than for other types of theft, or more serious things like murder?
Sadly population
The population of Germany is about 84m. The total prison population in Germany is 56557. [1]
What are you talking about?
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In Germany are about 1/3 people in prison because they used a train or bus without ticket. If you can't pay you will end up in prison. Imagine how much money this does cost.
This seems like a made up number. This article here states that it is at most 10% of all people even in that category of crime in Bavaria https://netzpolitik.org/2022/datenluecke-wie-viele-menschen-... The category being "Ersatzfreiheitsstrafe" (imprisonment for failure to pay a fine) Do you have a source for your claim?
I feel like the prison system is the victim of perverse incentives. The goal given to them is "house this person securely for a specific length of time at the lowest cost possible ". They are rewarded for cutting costs. But the total cost we pay is the cost to imprison this person the second and third time when they re-offend. It's the policing costs when they're homeless because they can't find housing or get a job.…
Furthermore, in the USA a fair percentage of the incarcerated suffer from mental illness.
We could mitigate both of these. But we don't.
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> 12+ years of incarceration in the federal system. His crime was armed robbery, first offense, no one was injured, and he profited a grand total of $35,000. No one was harmed. But the crime involved threat of death. So threatening to kill at least one person is a pretty serious crime. It’s good that no one was killed, but definitely the intent to kill for personal gain was part of the reason for such a lengthy sente…
I fully agree he earned punishment and it was a serious crime. (he says the gun was never loaded but that's neither here nor there). My question is the scope and breadth of the punishment and whether the system is about restitution and rehabilitation or pure punitive action. How do people come out after 10+ years having received no training, support or rehabilitation and step into a completely changed society from wh…
Anything beyond that is charity.
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> What's the big deal? People on HN explore adjacent topics quite frequently, and the idea that both police and prisons exist to exert power over (and frequently choose to exercise violence upon) the population is a very common and uncontroversial feeling. It's popular right now to bash the police as corrupt and as not having people's best interest at heart. But the fact is that those are only some of the police. And…
Can you provide the evidence you mention at the end of your comment?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Germany are about 1/3 people in prison because they used a train or bus without ticket. If you can't pay you will end up in prison. Imagine how much money this does cost.
This seems like a made up number. This article here states that it is at most 10% of all people even in that category of crime in Bavaria https://netzpolitik.org/2022/datenluecke-wie-viele-menschen-... The category being "Ersatzfreiheitsstrafe" (imprisonment for failure to pay a fine) Do you have a source for your claim?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plötzensee_Prison
https://taz.de/135-Schwarzfahrer-hinter-Gittern/!5134051/
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/jeder-dritte-in-plotzense...
It's unreal how much money prisons make off of Prisoners' families. Selling items for 2-4x as much as retail, selling them items and not allowing them to give them away when they leave, making phone calls super expensive, etc. A large majority of this money comes from the Prisoner's family. And because they're prisoners most people will never really care until it happens to them. And this isn't really just a US thing…
I'd bet it's a big part of why the poverty/crime cycle is so hard to break. Families already on the margin pushed off the edge by all the expenses associated with having someone close to you get charged with a crime (again, unless you just totally cut them loose and pretend they're dead, not caring at all what happens to them).
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/01/19/martha-wright-r...