for me it would depend on what the guilty man was convicted of

in that case i'd rather have an innocent man in imprisoned... it's awful when that happens tho

Given the infinite number of variables that you could apply to the situation, it makes it difficult to derive a definitive answer. But no matter how you swing it, there's something deeply unsettling about letting an innocent person be imprisoned.

If you have a thousand men guilty of murder, then putting an innocent man in prison (although detestable) seems to be justified. But if we were to swap ratios, would it also be worth putting ten innocent people in prison to keep one mass murderer off the street? At what point do we draw the line?

And on that note, we could relinquish numerous rights in the name of protection from murderers and rapists, such as our right to privacy and our Miranda rights (in the U.S.). It all depends on how far you're willing to go to keep a deadly criminal off the street.

On the whole I tend to agree with Blackstone's formulation. "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."

Better have 999 innocent people imprisoned than free 1000 guilty men. I would willingly be one of the innocent imprisoned if it meant just one murderer off the streets and away from the people I care about.

Rather see an innocent in jail than a murderer go free. I don't even understand how this is debatable or how you can say let the guilty murderer go free.

Seriously? Google "prison industrial complex." You're welcome.

Our prisons are full to the brim with pot smokers and black people who went to jail for being black. A large majority of violent criminals in this country are walking free on the streets right now. Either because they haven't been caught yet or were let free because THE SYSTEM IS EXTREMELY FLAWED. I seriously hope you guys don't think the criminal "justice" system is like those crime dramas where the police and FBI have Superman-like powers and every criminal they arrest is always "the right guy" and that there's absolutely NO possibility of DNA evidence being faked or misinterpreted.

"Justice" is all politics and leans heavily in the favor of the wealthy. I would think this would be pretty fucking obvious by now.

Oh, and the police carry guns to "protect and serve" themselves, not you.

Except that in practice, rule of law and due process don't exist.

As to the original question, that was my point. The innocent people are already in jail, and the guilty are already walking free.

rmg126 wrote:

Our prisons are full to the brim with pot smokers and black people who went to jail for being black. .

Which is fucking retarded, locking up pot smokers, its stupid.

^ Agreed.

Not to mention the fact that prison isn't really a crime deterrent. . .
Yeah. This justice system is fucked.

i'm just saying I'd rather not let a person who is going to be a disgrace to society back into society

rmg126 wrote:

Seriously? Google "prison industrial complex." You're welcome.

Our prisons are full to the brim with pot smokers and black people who went to jail for being black. A large majority of violent criminals in this country are walking free on the streets right now. Either because they haven't been caught yet or were let free because THE SYSTEM IS EXTREMELY FLAWED. I seriously hope you guys don't think the criminal "justice" system is like those crime dramas where the police and FBI have Superman-like powers and every criminal they arrest is always "the right guy" and that there's absolutely NO possibility of DNA evidence being faked or misinterpreted.

"Justice" is all politics and leans heavily in the favor of the wealthy. I would think this would be pretty fucking obvious by now.

Oh, and the police carry guns to "protect and serve" themselves, not you.

1.) our prisons are not full to the brim with pot smokers. that would be jails. there's a huge difference. people in prisons are convicted felons. people in jail are awaiting trial. is racism a part of the problem? yes, but it's so overplayed. that random nice black gentleman that gets put in jail for racism is so overplayed. it does not happen that often. most blacks that are arrested are doing something wrong. this is not that movie "Crash" irl.

2.) they haven't been caught yet because they haven't been caught yet. sometimes the criminal gets away.

3.) you can't expect everyone that is charged with a crime that actually did the crime. sometimes they go on things called evidence that supports the arrest. do you think cops just arrest people for no reason? no. they need a warrant usually. and that comes with probable cause or evidence. lets get real here.



power always gives people the edge to be more corrupt. police have a lot of power, but not all of them are assholes. there are nice cops out there. remember they are mostly just doing their jobs. if it wasn't for cops there would be no rules and there'd be anarchy. we need people that try to enforce the law. they are not perfect, but one day you will need a cop for something.

rmg126 wrote:

Except that in practice, rule of law and due process don't exist.

As to the original question, that was my point. The innocent people are already in jail, and the guilty are already walking free.

are you really this retarded? of course more innocent people are in jail. they have not been charged to the fullest extent and are awaiting trial. u need to learn definition of prisons and jails.



like it or not, smoking pot is against the law. don't blame the police, blame your congressman.



prison isn't a crime deterrent? maybe to retards but smart people out there try to avoid prison

I worded it wrong.
My bad.
Longer sentences and a higher number of incarcerations have been proven to not be crime deterrents, I believe.
It doesn't work very well, or at least as well as it should/people believe it does.