Are Democrats soft on Crime?

[bloom]

Are you soft on crime?

Do you vote for a candidate (prosecutor or judge) that advocates leniency and easy sentences for criminals?

Would you be lenient for drug cases but not for crimes with victims?

_____________

Democrats were characterized to me today by a detective who said ALL of the Democratic prosecutors & judges were easy on the criminal as opposed to their Republican counterparts. And that this was so because of the people who voted that way.

[Brucey]

1. I'm not soft on crime, I'm hard on

prevention.

[neuvocat]

2. I believe Clinton was heavily in favor of 3 strikes laws.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Hippo_Tron]

4. Not only that...

Clinton got more cops on the streets and cleaned up all the mess that Bush Sr. left us with. I don't call that soft on crime.

[Sephirstein]

16. Three strike laws are crazy...

3 convictions of selling marijuana is not worse than 1 rape conviction.

[jiacinto]

3. No

But I disagree with those who oppose the death penalty and three strikes laws. I do agree that poverty and upbringing do contribute to crime, but they aren't excuses either. I think the focus, along with tough sentences, should involve prevention.

[bloom]

5. Is it your experience that Democratic prosecutors and judges

in the area that you live campaign with a platform of leniency?

Prosecutors and judges don't really deal with prevention - so that is not the question. I want to know if people who are democrats favor leniency in sentencing criminals.

And if prosecutors and judges should expect to run with that in mind.

[sandnsea]

7. Judges advocate prevention

I can't really recall on prosecutors off the top of my head, but I've known plenty of judges that have spearheaded change in dealing with crime. I can't see any judge really enjoying locking up 18 year old kids over and over on drug charges, prostitution, petty crimes, and the rest. They are often the best advocates of community service, work release, DUI school, treatment and all kinds of social services. That's what I've observed anyway.

[bloom]

20. yes - sometime prosecutors and judges get involved

in developing educational sentences and that can be a good thing for minor domestic abuse offences.

I'm talking about people facing 150 years. I don't think it's the time to cut them a break and see it reduced to 10. I don't see where that does anyone a favor.

[sandnsea]

6. Common sense on crime

We've been easy on rapists and child molestors for decades. It was women and Democrats who fought to toughen up on those crimes and the punishments still aren't always tough enough. But we're tough on a guy with a joint. We've got three stikes for the guy who holds up a liquor store but apparently Halliburton and Bechtel can break the law repeatedly and still get billion dollar contracts. We need to lock up the truly dangerous offenders, help the ones who can be helped and take a middle of the road approach with the rest. And treat a corporate crook the same as every other crook.

I don't think Democrats are soft on crime, I think we want some common sense on crime. Oh, and we kind of like to remember that silly little thing called the Bill of Rights.

[rusk2003]

8. I Think

We just believe that Criminals should be punished and reablitated. Republicans soultion is to send victmless criminalls to prison where they will be come even more Criminal. GO look at the California's republican party stand on petty drug users. PRESIDENT CLINTON signed sex offenders regestry into law. I think all democrats share the belief that people who victimize others should be punished severly especially crimianls who go after children.

Repblicans idea is to send Martha Stewart up the river and let the Ceo's who stole hundreds of MIllions walk away free. And to exacute mentally challanged people. Iam for probation rehablitation of victimless crimianls and prison time with counseling for violent crimianlls who prey on people.And generally I think democrats do not favor giving young offenders hard time where they will become oldrer hardend criminals. I also favor creative punishments. :bounce:

[AP]

9. Democrats are hard on crime and harder on the causes of crime

That's a paraphrase of the attitude that Blair used to take Labour from the edge of oblivion in '83 to their dominance today.

[Demobrat]

10. What do you call soft?

If you would call preferring to put an 18 year old drug addict who got caught selling to finance his habit into rehab rather than prison, yeah, I guess you could say I'm soft.

[Fixated]

11. .....

3 strike laws are bullshit. Drug laws are bullshit. However, many Dems support both. Didn't crime go down in the Clinton years? Or just gun crime?

[KG]

12. the prison/industrial complex business boomed under clinton

prison population and especially the incarceration rates for blacks skyrocketed.

wow. that's some kind of soft!

[quaker bill]

13. No one is soft on crime

WE have a larger portion of the population in prison that any other country. We're Number 1,We're Number 1!!!!!!!

Interestingly, the Bush budget deficit and economy has caused States across the nation to look at ways to cut prison populations, because they just can't afford to keep this up.

Prisons, just build more of them. More minimum mandatories, more crimes subject to the death penalty (patriot II). When something you are doing is not working, do more of it, harder, and faster. (Just like Iraq)

[bloom]

14. I'm not worried about drug "criminals"

I am more interested in the rapists and child molesters and what is going to be done about them.

The detective wanted to characterize the situation as "the suburbanites vote for Republican prosecutors and judges who are tough on criminals and the inner city people vote for Democratic prosecutors and judges". Which makes no sense to me unless you think that all of the inner city people are criminals. Which I think is bullshit.

But I'll tell you what - that detective - if he tells every victim's family that - and they believe him - would be doing a lot to get democrats unelected.

[Resistance Is Futile]

15. Absolutely

Just look at how few of them are demanding Shrub's impeachment or serious investigations into the junta's activities.

[Sephirstein]

17. Hmmm...

I think both Canada and the USA are too hard on victimless crimes and not hard enough on real criminals. There are heroin addicts where I live spending more time in jail than child molestors.

[Sephirstein]

18. Hmmm...

I think both Canada and the USA are too hard on victimless crimes and not hard enough on real criminals. There are heroin addicts where I live spending more time in jail than child molestors.

[w4rma]

19. No, Republicans are soft on crime, IMHO.

Republicans put all of their emphasis on punishment and little to no emphasis on rehabilitation. And on white-collar crime Republicans don't even procecute except to make a few high-profile examples of folks. Republicans also tend to spend more resources going after small time criminals than the big time ones.

Democrats put emphasis on rehabilitation and less on punishment. Shorter sentences geared towards reeducation of the former criminal to function in society once released. Democrats also seem to be the party that ends up having to procecute white-collar crime since Republicans only seem to do it when forced to. Also Dems tend to go after the leaders in gangs and the like while showing more mercy for the folks who got involved with them.