Why do so many people think that snitching is worse than an underlying crime?
156821
because in order too actually snitch on someone for doing a crime means that you were involved in said crime and you are being disloyal to your partner in crime by telling on him in order to save your own ass.simply reporting a crime that you witnessed does not make you a snitch.believe it or not there is loyalty among criminals,be it unspoken or what have you.its expected that by doin a crime with someone neither person will snitch out the other if one is caught and the other one isnt.do the crime you do the time.
477708
Because the harm from an attempted crime is less than for an actual crime. Also, it is not usually the case that someone tries to shoot someone and misses, but that they shoot someone and the person does not die. If that person meant to kill the other person, they should get a harsher punishment than they would for simply shooting someone.
1186355
usually, white collar crimes receive a lesser penalty than violent crimes. My personal feelings on how that differentiation is really messed up, a lawyer is absolutely the best person to consult on this matter.
269864
I think for a lot of people, it is an over-inflated ego.  They think they are smarter than the authorities, and will not get caught.  What proves that they are not smarter is that they are not counting the special training and knowledge a policeman or sheriff's deputy has to counteract any limit to raw "smarts" he may have.  \n\nThere is also something, whether self-concept directly or not, that lets most criminals leave moral and ethical values out of their consideration.  This is especially true of violent crimes, but it applies to crimes of property, too; theft and vandalism.  They see life more like an animal than a human.  "Dog eat dog" is the expression, but of course dogs don't actually act like that.  In some cases, they are so far from moral values that you have to wonder if they even have a soul at all!
563978
I believe the "tough guy code" is that nobody snitches on people to the police. Snitching on another person to another tough guy is - I believe - completely acceptable.
428748
There has been tons and tons of studies done on why people commit crime.There are many psychological factors in criminal thinking. Addiction is perhaps one of the biggest predictors for crime. Mental illness is also a risk factor in criminal thinking.  Not all addicts nor all mental ill people commit crime.  For most who commit crime they do not think they are committing a crime. It is the police, and society who is picking on them.  Go to any jail and any prison and you will hear how they were set up how it wasn't their fault. Criminals think different the rest of society.
1008293
It seems that what bothers you most is the inconsistency of laws.  We have laws that are supposedly in place (like the seatbelt law) to protect ourselves from harming ourselves -- yet we have not legislated all forms of self-harm.  What I find most annoying is the artificiality of saying we pass these laws to "save lives."  I believe the reality is that we pass these laws to save other taxpayers for picking up the cost of a person's health care if they've chosen self harming behavior.  (Examples:  seat belts, motorcycle helmets, recreational drug use.)  If we were just honest, and said these things are illegal because we as a society don't want to have to bear the costs associated with medically caring for those injured as a result of less "safe" behavior, I think most of us would find such laws much less distasteful.
699794
a lot easier than their victims- i'm talking sex offenders and murderers and drug dealers here. Too easy.\n\nBut money/fraud crimes- they should give something back to the community, not be treated the same as above. i.e non violent criminals, but not ones that prey on old folk though- they are bad too.
909671
Why does everybody think its better to hit the person who has more harder for the same thing? You committed the crime you suffer the punishment, whatever it is. It's the same mentality as these people who claim that rich people get off light on crimes. I think its all a matter of resenting those who have money and a desire to take it away from them. Go out and earn it yourself if you want to be rich.\n\nWhy should the penalty for speeding be a monetary fine? Why shouldn't it be something more appropriate like picking up litter along the highway? Seems a lot more sensible to me. The reason its money is so the government has another excuse to reach into your pocket. Why are you so eager to take money from one group to give to the government?
400723
Because they have no moral problem with it. Many of them are sociopaths who only think of themselves. They don't feel other people's pain. To them it's just easy money with little risk.\n\nA lot of scammers in Nigeria feel that when they're stealing from Europeans or Americans they are taking money from people who are rich, who wouldn't feel the loss or they justify it as some kind of collective payback for Slavery. This is total nonsense of course.\n\nIn years of dealing with online fraud, I have yet to find a crime so low that criminals would not do it. Online scammers steal from orphans, from single mothers, from families with severely ill family members and no job, from crippled war veterans, from dying AIDS patients, etc.\n\nThe best prevention is education. The more people know about how scams operate, the fewer people will fall for it. If you come an offer that seems too good to be true or is otherwise unusual, search on the internet. Talk to others about it. Ask a question in here. There will be many people willing to offer advice and experience.
1127891
I think what you describe is nowhere near the norm, and quite rare.  But one motivation for a rogue agent breaking the law to get a confession, or solve a crime, would be for personal gain.  Solving crimes is how they get promoted, get ahead.  So, in theory, they could get ahead by "solving" crimes, no matter how they "solved" them.\n\nAgain, I think this is very rare, and most stories about abuse by law enforcement are bogus stories by three-time losers.
20411
It depends on what crime, but some of the worst ones are. petty crimes are normal behavior.
624567
Unfortunately there is no easy answer with today's paranoia. While sexual offenses are certainly horrible, society seems to be okay with the 1.2 to 1.5 million children homeless on any given night in America. They say that up to 1 in 5 children are sexually abused, 95% of which are crimes committed by friends, family, and professionals (clergy, doctors, therapists, etc.) If 1 in 5 children are abused, that means that 1 in 14,400,000 will be abused. Again, primarily by a known abuser. The odds of being struck by lightening are 1 in 600,000 so a child has a 24% chance of being struck by lightening.\n\nEveryone deserves a second chance. The Department of Justice shows a study indicating that 5.3% of sex offenders reoffend within 3 years and as the years pass, the recidicism rates decrease. Also, 2 other important aspects to consider: 1). Many if not most sexual offenders have wives and children to support and those family members should not be required to suffer. 2). Sexual offenses come in many many forms. Not all sexual offenders are child molestors. Many involve consensual sex between youth of a few years apart in age. Even today, there are children on the registries as young as 12 years old (a child?!) Many involve false accusations. (Many people say plead innocent if you are but, most cannot afford the costs yet are not poor enough to qualify for low quality court appointed attorney. When the justice system charges someone, they also continously threaten the absolute worst. Most choose to take probation instead of a chance at 30 years in prison.) Many sexual offenses involve no physical touching of anyone. \n\nBack to securing employment, I have to say that it is next to impossible unless you find a compassionate person willing to forgive. Of course, we are a nation that perports forgiveness (I guess Christians have forgotten all about that) yet the reality is that we do not forgive. We seem to thrive on watching 'lesser' humans suffer. That, to me, is far less admirable than a man who admits his crimes and weaknesses. \n\nSociety seems to not want ex-offenders to work of live anywhere. It has created a subclass much like the black people had it prior to the recent freedoms given to them. It does not seem to matter even if it is a ditch digger, ticket taker, WalMart warehouse, etc. It would seem that anytime an ex-offender is found working, someone makes a fuss. \n\nSociety, due to the media frenzy to sell compassion drawing audiences even if the media exagerates or does not report all sides, has effectively shunned ex-offenders into no chance of a life. This, unfortunately, will only lead to more crimes. When the ex-offender becomes homeless, he may be required to register on a very regular basis. It's no surprise that many hopeless ex-offenders simply dissappear. \n\nSociety seems to be content with building more prisons even though we have the highest rate of incarcerations than any other industrial society. Why not up it from 2,000,000 prisoners to 6,000,000? Why stop there? Why not build concentration camps so prisoners can make all the things that the upper classes require to live ever so comfortably? Why not criminalize more things? Maybe bring back prohibition since the war on alcohol can be just as successful as the war on drugs. Bring in the military too.  Currently, Americans owe in excess of $30,000 for every man, woman, and child. Why not triple that to $90,000? I am okay with that as I have no children who would have to be responsible for that debt even though I think money could be better spent on education, national health (we tend to wait until we are sick instead of preventative analysis...well except those who can afford it...just ignore those 1.2 to 1.5 homeless children), global compassion as opposed to terroristic threats, maybe keeping some of our own money before buying off other nations and then sending them our jobs anyway, perhaps another form of pay-off, etc. \n\nNo, the best jobs
635583
It is a deterrent.\n\nor\n\nIt is cheaper than keeping those folks in prison for life\n\nor\n\nEye-for-eye, they should 'pay' for their crime with something equal like their life.
454224
I've asked this same question ... makes no sense to me.  "Some" child molestors, people convicted for homicide, murder, rape ... get less time than than drug dealers.  I beleive the governement is pissed because they lose "tax" money on the drug industry so they will at least squander and pilfer the money from the dealers through prison time.
381336
Oh damnit, a political question, I was tricked. I think the main problem with the trust issue is mainly due to the iffy criminal justice system. In order for law to work it must be swift, severe, and gauranteed: People sit on death row for 15 years, child rapists have been released with simple probations for treatment and no punishment, and you can commit the same crime in 2 places, one gets you probation and the other gets you 20 years. I believe that until these issues are better delt with, people will not be able to believe that our justice system is efficient enough to "correct" anyone. Unfortunately our justice system is unique in the world, it is a system that would literally let 10 guilty people go than send one innocent person to jail, which I can't argue with, but hopefully in the future people will realize that it's a mess and someone will fix it.
93535
Proven by every study out there rehab is cheaper by far!  Not only is the cost of one rehab cheaper the long-term costs are far cheaper.  When you think of how many people are in prison right now for crimes related to their addiction you see the base.  When they get out they are going to offend again because they are still addicts and have had nothing to curb that, no jail doesn't kill it drugs are previlent in jails and prisons too, so they tend to re-offend.  Rehab gives them the tools to get it under control and deal with it.  Yes it may take more than one rehab to work but it will eventually work!