People are changing, there is no doubt about it, but most people in jail pick up more bad habits, or just perfect their old skills. I can't say what the prison system is like in Canada, but I suppose it's much better than the one in the USA. I'd like to believe that the two will change, but I wouldn't bet too much on that outcome.
The punishment is too small for me, and it sends an arguably bad message to those who are considering doing something similar. The potential benefit of successful theft far outweighs the possible sentence, 2 years is actually an acceptable risk for some - while 5+ years would probably deter some from attempting anything like this at all.
Yes all of that can also unfortunately be true. It really comes down to the individual and their desire to be better than they were. Canada does state it focuses on reforming inmates and has certain sentences that involve restorative justice - often involves facing the victim and working through the process with them. Definitely has mixed results and often I dont' think the system is set up to properly meet it's expected goals.
The US is quite different they have a for profit prison system. So it's in someones interest to have repeat offenders and create situations where they inevitably get stuck in a system that can suck you back in for simply attempting to live after prison.
What I disagree with most here anyways is that time served in custody pre sentance carries more weight. It used to be like 2:1 or something like that, maybe more. This often reduces sentances to time served and imo is a failing. In this case I would expect to see a lot of conditions placed on them after release this can be things like monitoring their internet usage and limiting their activities for a given period of time.
agreed there.
i got in my own share of trouble during my late teens. in fact it was my first year of university, like one of the brothers in this case. no need to revisit the details, but living down that sentence (particularly the shame of it) set me straight.
Good for you. Shitty way to have to learn but it seems to have turned out for the best.
