If a homeless person steals bread from a store.
Should he be punished for it?
31-35, F
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CopperCicada · M
This is why the DA’s office has prosecutorial discretion. Do you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars of tax payer’s money on a case of a homeless man trying to eat? Do your constituents want to see his/her efforts and resources utilized like this?
This is also why police exercise discretion on their part. Is your time better spent taking a couple hours or more processing this guy? or dealing with more serious and pressing issues? Do you want to be *that guy* who sent a homeless person to prison?
It’s just economy of time, energy, resources. It’s also the values expressed by police and prosecutors.
Here I have seen these cases, and police have just bought the people food from their own pockets. And connected people with services.
I just did a Google search and see cases of people sentenced to 18 months for shoplifting food as an indigent person. It costs about $100-120 a day to incarcerate a person, so that 18 month sentence is $50,000-60,000+ out of the tax payer’s pocket.
Of course there are people who nut on that. People need to be held accountable. Legit. Can we start with shit like an American being sexually assaulted every 68 seconds? Plz?
This is also why police exercise discretion on their part. Is your time better spent taking a couple hours or more processing this guy? or dealing with more serious and pressing issues? Do you want to be *that guy* who sent a homeless person to prison?
It’s just economy of time, energy, resources. It’s also the values expressed by police and prosecutors.
Here I have seen these cases, and police have just bought the people food from their own pockets. And connected people with services.
I just did a Google search and see cases of people sentenced to 18 months for shoplifting food as an indigent person. It costs about $100-120 a day to incarcerate a person, so that 18 month sentence is $50,000-60,000+ out of the tax payer’s pocket.
Of course there are people who nut on that. People need to be held accountable. Legit. Can we start with shit like an American being sexually assaulted every 68 seconds? Plz?