Should this be allowed?

[BwareDWare94 723]

I like the idea of not locking up non-violent criminals, but the idea that church is going to fix anything is absurd.

 

BUT this could be a key movement in something that would benefit our our country to a massive extent. If didn't lock up non-violent criminals, would our prisons be so crowded? There has to be an alternative method to locking non-violent people up and then using taxpayer dollars to fund all of their amenities. I say that somebody who isn't violent might as well be released back into the public under observation with weekly meetings with counselors and freedom of inspection by the law. If someone isn't going to hurt anybody, they might as well be able to work and pay taxes.

[Anthony 78]

BUT this could be a key movement in something that would benefit our our country to a massive extent. If didn't lock up non-violent criminals, would our prisons be so crowded? There has to be an alternative method to locking non-violent people up and then using taxpayer dollars to fund all of their amenities. I say that somebody who isn't violent might as well be released back into the public under observation with weekly meetings with counselors and freedom of inspection by the law. If someone isn't going to hurt anybody, they might as well be able to work and pay taxes.

 

Well, there are three alternatives for non-violents in my area, and each of these options comes at a cost to the convict.

 

1) Community Service- there's a one time fee to be paid for this option, and the city has them doing things they would otherwise have to pay someone else to do.

 

2) House arrest- the convict pays a fee to the court, and then pays for monitoring. It's not cheap.

 

3) Weekends in a local jail- You pay a fee to the court and you spend your time in a local jail instead of County, and only on the weekends. I had a friend with a DUI conviction that chose this option. He spent his Saturdays and Sundays washing police cruisers.

 

Numbers 1 and 3 are the best option for people not wanting to lose their jobs. The bad thing is that you do actual time, instead of that county jail 'double-time'. A Sentence of 90 days in County means you'll be out in 45. It took my friend nearly a year to work off his 90 day conviction using the weekend alternative, because he served exactly 90 days, and not one day less.

 

So I don't even know how it would work with a church alternative, when it comes to time. If the person chooses a Catholic church, that's a one hour service every Sunday. By the end of the year, and broken down by hours, they would have served less than 3 days of a 90 day sentence. Are they going to spend the next 30+ years working off a 90 day penalty through church?