so nashwan... you are saying that the sentances for crime in england are lower (that the criminals spend less time) ?
Yes. A lot lower.
See for example his page from the US department of justice, comparing sentences for some offences between the US and E&W:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/html/cjusew96/isl.htmHow could they be lower than some of our out in one year manslauter or burglary sentances?
They could be community service orders.
They could even be police cautions, which is where you admit guilt, the police read out a formal caution, which is held on record for a few years. No real punishment involved. (not for manslaughter, of course, but for burglary)
In E&W in 2005, 25,360 were sentenced for burglary. (this doesn't include those who got cautions etc).
Of those, 11,820 got custodial sentences, of an average 17 months. (There is automatic remission of sentence, and offenders typically serve 1/3 - 1/2 their sentence. So of those sent to prison, the average time spent inside is about 6 - 8 months.
Cautions for burglary account for only 6% of adults proceeded against, but 45% of those under 18 (ie for those under 18, 45% get only a caution for burglary, 55% go to court)
No... what you are really proving is that in the U.S. we are better at catching criminals because we have more of em.
No, the sentences in the UK, when caught, are lower than in the US. That's irrespective of clear up rates.
as for your ridiculous race card arguement... comparing the amount of minorities in a country with 3% to one that is lower yet is not really worth doing... 3% is insignificant.... any lower number is no less insignificant....
Where's 3%? England and Wales have a much higher proportion than that, from memory it was about 9% at the 2001 census, which ignores the illegal immigrants and the huge numbers allowed in since then (the government, frightened by the bad publicity about asylum seekers, decided the way to get lower numbers of asylum seekers was to allow them in without waiting for them to claim asylum)
The government itself estimates that, as of 2001, there were about 500,000 illegal immigrants working in the UK, and that doesn't include asylum seekers, or dependents of those working here.
Id be very suprised if the total figure wasn't around 12 - 14% at the moment.
In the U.S. you are more likely to be murdered than in england but... that is still allmost a negligible number..
Negligible? It's equivalent to about 5 9/11 attacks a year, every year. In fact, since the 3,000 people were murdered on 9/11, about 65,000 Americans have been murdered by other Americans.
in both england and the U.S. you are much more likely to be mugged or assaulted (not knowing how it will turn out) .... I want to face the bad buy with better training and a better weapon.
i'd rather face the bad guy who hasn't got a gun.
The thing is, life isn't a John Wayne movie. The good guy doesn't always win. The criminal not only has the advantage of suprise in most cases, he's also better prepared to use his weapon, because he
knows you're the target, but you don't know he's the threat until he instigates the encounter.
That's borne out by the stats, too. Less than 300 people killed criminals in self defence, criminals killed over 15,000 people during commision of their crimes.
I bet I'd need to make 5 burglaries to do any time at all, I'm guessing it's about the same in the UK.
I don't think it's quite that bad. First offence, extremely unlikely to get prison. Third offence, probably get prison, but not for long.
The government brought in a "mandatory" 3 year sentence for a burular convicted for a third time. I's supposed to be mndatory, but judges have discresion not to apply it if there are exceptional circumstanes. In the first 3 years, less than 15 3 year sentences were handed out.
What would be a normal response to a first or second time offender? Some type of parole?
Community service order. Spend about 180 hours doing some work in th community and being told how to reform. (The highest judge in the UK issued sentencing guidelins a few years ago saying first time burglary offenders should not be sent to prison)