Laura said: "That's not to say it's okay to be a crook. But we have paid a huge price in our society to have what we have. Start locking up petty criminals and the next step is a strongly nationalistic society in which those we fear will be the police instead of the crooks, or thugs as it is put.
I'm all for a better criminal justice system that starts with good day care, goes on to excellent kindergarten preparedness, and full funding for public schools, and on to great post secondary education. That will fix those criminals. They won't know what hit them." I say: For those of us who live with this as you refer to it "petty crime" and worse on a regular basis, it is a high price to pay to be asked to risk being shot, having our children shot, being mugged or beat up, having our houses robbed or vandalized, having bicycles and cars stolen or vandalized, etc. etc. While I agree with Lauras philosophy on the root causes of crime, it is really hard to accept being a "sacrificial lamb" for criminals while society pontificates on what can and will end poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence, racism etc. etc. etc. We already know the answer to this question. It's education, opportunity, jobs and most importantly access to these things. We also know that a high percentage of "petty criminals" are people who do not have access to education, opportunity or a decent job. While we are finding meaningful ways to address these social ills, we continue to concentrate people with a high likelihood of becoming "petty criminals" or worse in the same space as the people who are most likely to be victims of crime. When you couple that with the way we legislate prostitution and drugs and the fact that we have over 200,000,000 hand guns on the streets of the U.S. you create a fabulous opportunity and supermarket for rampant criminal activity. Unfortunately, in the mix of this wonderful world I have just painted you have good upstanding citizens who are just trying to get by. We are trying to earn enough to stay in our homes or apartments, feed and raise our families, keep the things we have accumulated, and enjoy some semblance of safety and security. These are basic civil rights for citizens in the U.S. So, while people suggest "petty criminals" run around without incarceration or consequences for fear of becoming a nationalistic society, and while they are on a quest to establish a better criminal justice system, they are also asking a lot of people to sacrifice their basic civil rights and live in veritable criminal war zones. Right now as one of the people who is sacrificing her basic civil rights to live in a neighborhood populated with "petty criminals" I am selfishly more interested in hearing how the law enforcement and criminal justice system think we can be helped than how we should be helping the criminals. I will admit that I do have the choice to move. But somewhere in our constitution is a basic civil right that says I shouldn't have to move to be safe and secure in my home. Those rights apply to all people who live in all geographic areas of the country including mine. The sun is out, have a nice day. Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
