Law and Order
For the last two months I have been busy in my move from Vancouver to Toronto due to my new job so that is why I haven't posted anything here. Anyways here is my next topic which is on law and order and this seems appropriate since much of the Tory agenda has centered around this. When it comes to law and order I take a pragmatic middle of the road approach which is laws should be based on prevention, rehabilatation, and punishment. For minor crimes I lean more towards the former two, while for more serious crimes I lean more towards the latter. In terms of sentencing, I don't believe in longer sentences just to score political points, but do believe there are certain crimes where it may be appropriate. Longer sentences should only be done if it is found to be a deterrence, which studies say really isn't the case, or if the person cannot be rehabilatated i.e. Clifford Olsen in which case I support them spending the rest of their life in prison
Victimless Crimes
Victimless Crimes are crimes in which there are no victims. I am here specifically referring to drugs and prostitution. I support legalization of both marijuana and prostitution. This way we could regulate both of them and have some control rather than relying on the black market. Much like alcohol and tobacco are legal, but heavily regulated, the same would apply to marijuana and prostitution. Only licenced dealers could sell marijuana and only those with licences could be prostitutes. Prostitutes would be required to have regular check-ups to ensure they don't have STDs. Only those over 19 could purchase marijuana and only those over 19 could be a prostitute or have sex with one. In the case of prostitution this would make it safer and greatly reduce the chances of having several going missing like what happened in the Robert Pickton case on the East side of Vancouver.
For harder drugs, I support keeping them illegal, but believe treatment, not jail time is the proper course of action for drug users. Only drug dealers and smugglers should face prison time. I also support allowing safe injection sites in cities where the community is supportive of one, but I would make one change, which is to provide the addicts with the drugs at the site rather than have them bring their own drugs. Since few of them have jobs, they likely have to steal to get the money to buy drugs, so providing it on the site would help lower property crime.
Death Penalty
I am not opposed to the death penalty per se, but I oppose re-introducing capital punishment for the simple reason you can never be 100% certain the person is guilty. If it were possible to create a system whereby there was absolutely no chance of executing an innocent person, I would support re-introducing it for first degree murder. However, the reality is there is no example today and likely never will of a system where there is no chance of executing an innocent person. Even if it is only a 1 in a million chance of executing an innocent person, that is still too high for me. Lets remember if we accidently send an innocent person to prison, we can always release them, whereas if we accidently execute an innocent person, we cannot bring them back to life. It is for this reason I support maintaining Canada's moratorium on the death penalty and also support ensuring all those facing extradition will not face the death penalty.
Violent and Repeat Offenders
I generally support light sentences for first time minor offences since people do sometimes do dumb things and they shouldn't have their life destroyed because of this. More importantly locking them away will not reduce their chances of recidivism and it will also mean they are less likely to be contributors to society in the longer run. However, violent or repeat offenders, I do support long jail sentences. Murder and rape are violent crimes that should be punished harshly and for the most part they are. Likewise for repeat offenders of property crimes, I do support longer jail sentences, although not your California three strikes and you are out. The reason for supporting longer sentences is if someone is continuously breaking the law, they likely cannot be rehabilatated over a short period of time, but require a longer period of time for it to occur. Also keeping them behind bars means they cannot commit crimes.
My next topic will be on the environment.
Victimless Crimes
Victimless Crimes are crimes in which there are no victims. I am here specifically referring to drugs and prostitution. I support legalization of both marijuana and prostitution. This way we could regulate both of them and have some control rather than relying on the black market. Much like alcohol and tobacco are legal, but heavily regulated, the same would apply to marijuana and prostitution. Only licenced dealers could sell marijuana and only those with licences could be prostitutes. Prostitutes would be required to have regular check-ups to ensure they don't have STDs. Only those over 19 could purchase marijuana and only those over 19 could be a prostitute or have sex with one. In the case of prostitution this would make it safer and greatly reduce the chances of having several going missing like what happened in the Robert Pickton case on the East side of Vancouver.
For harder drugs, I support keeping them illegal, but believe treatment, not jail time is the proper course of action for drug users. Only drug dealers and smugglers should face prison time. I also support allowing safe injection sites in cities where the community is supportive of one, but I would make one change, which is to provide the addicts with the drugs at the site rather than have them bring their own drugs. Since few of them have jobs, they likely have to steal to get the money to buy drugs, so providing it on the site would help lower property crime.
Death Penalty
I am not opposed to the death penalty per se, but I oppose re-introducing capital punishment for the simple reason you can never be 100% certain the person is guilty. If it were possible to create a system whereby there was absolutely no chance of executing an innocent person, I would support re-introducing it for first degree murder. However, the reality is there is no example today and likely never will of a system where there is no chance of executing an innocent person. Even if it is only a 1 in a million chance of executing an innocent person, that is still too high for me. Lets remember if we accidently send an innocent person to prison, we can always release them, whereas if we accidently execute an innocent person, we cannot bring them back to life. It is for this reason I support maintaining Canada's moratorium on the death penalty and also support ensuring all those facing extradition will not face the death penalty.
Violent and Repeat Offenders
I generally support light sentences for first time minor offences since people do sometimes do dumb things and they shouldn't have their life destroyed because of this. More importantly locking them away will not reduce their chances of recidivism and it will also mean they are less likely to be contributors to society in the longer run. However, violent or repeat offenders, I do support long jail sentences. Murder and rape are violent crimes that should be punished harshly and for the most part they are. Likewise for repeat offenders of property crimes, I do support longer jail sentences, although not your California three strikes and you are out. The reason for supporting longer sentences is if someone is continuously breaking the law, they likely cannot be rehabilatated over a short period of time, but require a longer period of time for it to occur. Also keeping them behind bars means they cannot commit crimes.
My next topic will be on the environment.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight | 7:46 AM
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