On Wednesday, September 23, 2015 at 10:34:30 AM UTC-4, Mayayana wrote:
| But the possibilty of real prison time will make them think before doing
the
| crime.

| But most criminals think they will never be caught so prison is little
| deterrent.

By that logic there is no role in society for
a criminal justice system. You paint it as
just black and white.


I agree, even if criminal convictions don't deter all
criminals, or even most criminals, it doesn't mean that
they are totally ineffective. Suppose they only deter
30%, so what, it's still reducing crime.

The other reason for criminal convictions is punishment,
regardless of deterrence. If you have no criminal laws
covering things like this, then it's open season and and
a whole lot of people who are already cutting corners,
going to the edge of what's legal or beyond, will just go
further.