Simon Thomas AM

[The Bishop]

If the question is whether our approach works better than the US one, well the evidence suggests that on the whole it does. There are always exceptions, of course.

[Crimson King]

I am sure there are facts about the relative effectiveness of sentences somewhere that could help rather than made up numbers

[boogieeck]

Freakonomics did a very persuasive piece comparing states that are tough on crime with states that are soft on crime and showed that crime figures dropped off a cliff 18 years after abortion was legalised, or in the case of Romania, crime rocketed 18 years after birth control was prohibited.

It has long been my view (long standing members will know this) that first time offenders can pretty much be admonished for even serious crimes but that repeat offenders should be imprisoned for life after three strikes, even for minor offences. Which might not exclude them being released on licence after a few years of re-education and maturity.

[East Anglian Lefty]

As I recall, the argument wasn't any more substantial than a suggestion that poor families don't love their children. Whether you find that persuasive is another question.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Nov 21, 2018 20:32:43 GMT East Anglian Lefty said:

As I recall, the argument wasn't any more substantial than a suggestion that poor families don't love their children. Whether you find that persuasive is another question.

It's been a while since I had a look at it, but as I recall the argument was closer to being that there were fewer 16-21 year-old males, and that they tended to be the most violent section of society.

There's a not dissimilar argument that links the decline in criminality to the banning of leaded petrol.

[East Anglian Lefty]

The banning of leaded petrol at least had a correlation to go on.

The abortion argument just had a start point and a whole bunch of moralising guff.