AIBU to think the American justice system is spot on!

[babyno5]

I'm not a big fan of things American but reading this sentence I think UK should have far tougher sentencing for serious crimes
www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-48036512

Are you joking? You know that in America you get 6 months in prison for raping a girl and leaving her by a dumpster, but 40 years if you’re found to be in possession of pot (and aren’t white).

You need to urgently educate yourself - I highly recommend the first and third series of the podcast ‘Serial’, and the episodes of This American Life called ‘Sentencing’, and ‘Deep end of the Pool’. I guarantee your view will change.

Are you serious?

@Marriedtomyjob is that example you've given in the same state?
Clearly you know more about the system than I do but reading the particular case I'd linked I thought 40 years was better than what he got in this country immediately before

Are you serious? They still have capital punishment.
YABU

Yabu

@FarTooMuchWashing I don't agree with capital punishment.
Sorry I maybe worded it badly-I meant that when they give a custodial sentence it is more reflective of the crime

Yeah, right, OP.

Thirty years on Death Row followed by a surprise discovery (by DNA) that the indigent black supposed murderer was actually innocent.

Well it certainly succeeds in keeping the crime rate nice and low.

Nah, if you are black you are five times more likely to be in prison in the US than if you are white.

Because of things like the three strikes rule you can be put away for years and years for tiny offences.

Additionally supposing you are committing a burglary and a cop shots someone during it, in some states they can charge you for that murder.

And yes capital punishment, for profit prisons, the death penalty etc - it’s very twisted and unfair. So I completely disagree.

It could definitely be argued that stricter sentences are needed in the UK for violent crimes, but the US model definitely isn’t aspirational.

You need to read more. A lot more.

Maybe we should just arm our police officers and if they think you look like a criminal shoot to kill? Would save the criminal justice system a substantial amount.

Yabu it’s a horrible system that turns a lot of prisoners into slave labourers.

Trevor MacDonald did a documentary on life in an American prison not that long ago - you might be able to find it on ITV player.

I remember there was a 13 year old boy who'd been sentenced to over a hundred years and sent to an adult prison, with no chance of early parole - so basically his life was over. Personally I prefer a system that attempts rehabilitation.

If you want a better system than ours, look over to Scandinavia - some of the lowest recidivism rates in the world, but much lower rates of incarceration than we have here. Also much more humane prisons!

Largest Prison population in the world, disproportionately imprisons more black people and for longer, idiotically long sentences for petty drugs offences and has state killing in place....

You are being unreasonable. Their system is seriously screwed. I used to write to people in prison in America and it’s utterly inhuman what happens to them. DR is an absolute shit show (check out The Innocence Project - a real eye opener) and I knew a guy who had committed two minor thefts as a teen but under the three strike rule in his state, he committed a robbery just as he became an adult and he ended up locked away for over thirty years. Compare that to, as another PP said, crimes like rape that get very little. It’s an insane system and incredibly prejudice.

YABVVVU
Educate yourself

Have you watched the Netflix series about the Central Park 5?

Also OP, the Youth Justice Service in the USA is a shinning beacon. Absoulutley place a chronically abused and neglected minor on death row. Obviously no fault but their own that they grew up subjected to sexual, physical and emotional abuse with no one to intervene. Of course we would all be able to become moral and self assured individuals in these circumstances because we live in a vacum.

Thank you for the recommendations to give me a better understanding.
I would never condone inequality due to skin colour/sexual orientation etc.
Naively I based my thoughts on the case I linked

Heir to Du Pont billions only fined - 4k - after admiting raping his 3-year-old daughter

https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2019/06/14/how-a-du-pont-heir-avoided-jail-time-for-a-heinous-crime/#793fd37429db

On February 6, 2009, Robert Richards admitted to raping his 3-year-old daughter
. “I feel horrible,” he told the judge, according to court documents. “There’s no excuse for what I’ve done to her.”

His lawyer, calling the 6-foot-4, roughly 300-pound Richards “a somewhat gentle person,” argued he “would not fare well” in jail.

Hours later, Richards walked away from Delaware Superior Court a free man.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of rape in the fourth degree,
paid a fine of $4,395
and promised to attend a high-end treatment center in Massachusetts.

You can wish for stronger sentencing for paedophiles without wanting our justice system to be remotely like the shitshow that is America's.

The justice system in the US is horrific, even before you start considering the institutionalised racism. Defendants are encouraged to plead guilty in bargaining deals to avoid lengthy prison sentences, because it's almost impossible to get a decent defence if you aren't wealthy.

Ignorance is not bliss, educate yourself better and not use one case as support for such an ill-informed opinion.

Take this as an opportunity to go and learn more.

I am an American, and I agree our system is not perfect. There are sentence disparities, and the rich can frequently buy their way out of trouble. Also we have people in positions of power who are racists, sexists, homophobes, and fanatics. And we have Trump.

But, we have one thing going for us -- freedom of the press. You hear about the bad things that happen because our press can report it immediately. They can film and show interviews and they can report court proceedings. Injustices are made public! That's how you hear about them here.

Not to point fingers, but I have read terrible stories of UK children taken from the parents, put in foster homes and adopted out without the parents having the option of a lawyer, and without giving biological relatives the opportunity to take kindred custody. The UK press is not allowed to cover these stories until everything is a "done deal" and the parents have no appeal.

Also, yes there are too many guns in the US, but there are lots of knifings in the UK. We all could be a bit more civilized.

@georgiagirl the police here aren't the ones that stab people though..
And I think you'll find the amount of 'knifings' in one year more similar to the amount of shootings in one week. HTH