tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2815379345496796571.post7012895806217458353..comments2023-07-07T08:28:25.275-04:00Comments on Wise as Serpents: Optimal PunishmentMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10355160907086977558noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2815379345496796571.post-90266223486410426702007-07-28T13:22:00.000-04:002007-07-28T13:22:00.000-04:00Jeff's eyes do not deceive him: this post was tagg...Jeff's eyes do not deceive him: this post was tagged "Posted by Mark". However, the content was collaborative. All of the introductory writing that Jeff really liked, the stuff in regular type, was Doug's. I wrote the boring economic theory in italics. Jeff, your final comments clearly bear some relationship also with part of the previous post on "Who is poor?"<BR/>---MarkMarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10355160907086977558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2815379345496796571.post-85250630634943244782007-07-28T10:57:00.000-04:002007-07-28T10:57:00.000-04:00Mark! Excellent post (I'm sure I didn't type the ...Mark! Excellent post (I'm sure I didn't type the wrong name this time.)<BR/><BR/>I like the informality of the lead-in, the spur-of-moment lightness which transitions into contemplation of a serious moral issue. I like the economy of words -- how you suggest the survey-taker's objective as relatively superficial (presumably just completing an assignment) and bring out the evolution of your take on the whole thing: first simple compliance with a request, then analysis, and finally a question for the reader. <BR/><BR/>Very nice.<BR/><BR/>My answer to the question isn't pat. From many points of view, including economic, the way we in the US deal with crime is just awful. I'm particularly concerned with the number of people who are within control of the criminal justice system; and of that population I'm most concerned with disparities in treatment. Whatever balance society wishes to achieve between making good victims' losses and punishing criminals (or attempting to deter crime via punishments), I believe we should have a true equality under law. <BR/><BR/>The unequality we currently have is demonstrated by celebrity trials (like O.J. Simpson's of course) compared with the overall success rate of prosecutors in criminal cases. <BR/>http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/fed.htm<BR/><BR/>I wonder whether this inequality is also demonstrated by disparity of treatment of black males.<BR/><BR/>I'm only guessing, but I wouldn't be surprised to read that half the adult black males I come in contact with have a "record" of some kind. <BR/><BR/>A quick Google search brings up this:<BR/><BR/>More Young Black Men Have Done Prison Time Than Have Served in the Military or Earned a College Degree, Study Shows<BR/>http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Press&name=Young+Black+Men <BR/><BR/>And another: <BR/><BR/> "One in ten black men in their twenties and early thirties is in prison or jail. 22 Thirteen percent of the black adult male population has lost the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement laws....One in every 20 black men over the age of 18 is in a state or federal prison, compared to one in every 180 whites."<BR/>http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-01.htmJeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08853204880593806973noreply@blogger.com