312
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
The most trite answer is a civil rights protection against the following algorithm:
Win a legislative election.
Pass any law which disproportionately imprisons the supporters of your opponents.
...
- 20.8k
136
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
Democracy: Criminals (including those in jail) are affected by the results of the political process. Allowing them to vote gives their an option for their opinions to be heard.
If you want to signal ...
- 29.6k
125
votes
If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
They don't.
While there are a lot of half-assed arguments (on both sides, to be fair), any serious statistical analysis that actually controls for variables comes down on the side of gun control. A ...
- 4,585
91
votes
How easy is it to get a gun illegally in the United States?
That's a somewhat specious argument, because the ability to illegally obtain weapons is made easier by lax gun laws, and the guns that make it to the illegal market, by and large, start out as ...
- 20.7k
81
votes
If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
The real problem with questions like this is in assuming that gun ownership is a cause rather than a symptom.
I answered a similar question a year or two ago, but comparing Canada and USA, and mass ...
- 2,876
70
votes
Accepted
Why is the death sentence considered to be an unacceptable punishment in the Council of Europe, while life imprisonment is not?
There are actually several points that make it different:
The European charter of fundamental rights states in its very first article that human dignity is inviolable. (Just like the German Basic Law ...
- 786
65
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
Here are some actual arguments given in cases around the world, extracted from a paper focusing on the Irish case:
Israel: after Yigal Amir assassinated Rabin, there was a court case asking for Amir'...
- 125k
64
votes
Why is the death sentence considered to be an unacceptable punishment in the Council of Europe, while life imprisonment is not?
I can answer this from the US angles, which largely mirrors the European thinking. Stats from this Wikipedia entry
The justice system sometimes fails. There are people unwilling to accept a system ...
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60
votes
How easy is it to get a gun illegally in the United States?
It is very easy to get a gun illegally.
Be a non-citizen/resident, minor, felon, or have been adjudicated to be insane
Go to Texas
Look for "deer stick", "bangs", "outdoor toy" on craigslist.
Meet ...
- 2,161
52
votes
Why are so many cities in the list of 50 most violent cities in the world located in South and Central America?
Cocaine
Coca leaf is native to South America and grows best there, so that's where the cocaine comes from. Not only does this produce a huge amount of profit for organised crime, the drug itself ...
- 21.7k
49
votes
What percentage of mass shootings in the USA are actually stopped by ordinary gun-bearing Americans?
From the details in the The Violence Project database. The following can be seen.
In six incidents, armed civilians were present at the location. (Armed
Police were present in 19 Incidents) out of ...
- 1,605
45
votes
How easy is it to get a gun illegally in the United States?
I think you actually asked the wrong question. What you really want to know isn't how hard is it to get an illegal gun in the United States, but how hard is it to get a gun in a country with strict ...
- 471
44
votes
What percentage of mass shootings in the USA are actually stopped by ordinary gun-bearing Americans?
Unfortunately, statistics based on actual events are not able to answer this question.
A working hypothesis is that a higher rate of gun ownership among targets will discourage potential shooters from ...
- 12.9k
41
votes
Accepted
Why are arrest records public in the United States?
The US political system was designed by people who are profoundly sceptical of government power. Their Constitution is designed more to protect the citizens from the state than to protect the citizens ...
- 97.2k
39
votes
If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
If you compare the European Union to the United States, the EU has less crime, including crimes that have nothing to do with guns. For example, there are fewer domestic knife assaults. These are ...
- 88.7k
39
votes
Why are so many cities in the list of 50 most violent cities in the world located in South and Central America?
Because they're not at war.
Referencing this paper, Wikipedia clarifies the methodology:
The following 50 cities have the highest murder rates in the world of all cities not at war, with a ...
- 4,236
38
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
A few points not brought up by the other answers:
Criminals are not uniformly of one party. In certain cases reformed criminals, or even unreformed criminals, might be much wiser voters who are less ...
- 12.6k
35
votes
Accepted
How was this person considered for a pardon in Iceland?
The law in Iceland dates from the 1940s, and is modelled on Danish laws of the period.
Pre-1940, an adult convicted of a serious crime (one which is "outrageous to public opinion" and leads to a ...
- 106k
35
votes
Accepted
How do Trump's pardons of other people protect himself from potential future criminal investigations?
As best I can tell, these pardons are meant as rewards for being loyal to Trump, not as protections. They don't actually protect Trump in any way: the contrary, in fact, since pardoning someone ...
- 57.4k
35
votes
What percentage of mass shootings in the USA are actually stopped by ordinary gun-bearing Americans?
There are several factors that make this a very difficult question to answer definitively.
What exactly is a "mass shooting"?
What exactly does it mean to stop a mass shooting?
How to ...
- 2,003
33
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
Citizens who are convicted of crimes don't stop being citizens and start being criminals arbitrarily, and voting is not a privilege: it is a civic duty. It makes sense that the default should be ...
- 349
30
votes
Why are arrest records public in the United States?
The information isn't meant to be used against the arrested person, but rather to protect them. The arresting authority has to make public who was arrested (with information that should identify them ...
- 1,288
28
votes
Dealing with crime in cryptocurrency based economies
Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin aren't actually that untraceable, because the transfer history of every wallet is public. When cryptocurrencies ever become economically relevant, you ...
- 71.3k
28
votes
How can this new ban on drag possibly be considered constitutional?
Theoretically, the law would be constitutional because the Supreme Court has ruled that states can limit obscenity without violating the First Amendment, and the eyes of the Tennessee lawmakers, drag ...
- 8,052
26
votes
Accepted
Has the UK prosecuted or attempted to prosecute individuals other than Assange for jumping bail?
Yes.
This article on the BBC from 2016 states that 13000 Arrest warrants are outstanding, on people who have jumped bail, or as in the words of the article
Figures obtained by the BBC show more than ...
- 22.7k
26
votes
Purpose of the European Arrest Warrant
It could, but you would need to initiate an extradition process. Extradition processes depend on bilateral treaties (if you don't have one with the country the criminal is in, you can't get him/her ...
- 2,296
26
votes
Accepted
If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
All gun advocates who claim this have not done their research. A recent study done by the CDC (2013) found that there was no significant correlation between gun ownership and violent crimes, which ...
- 431
24
votes
Why allow convicted criminals to vote?
First and foremost: The question is ill-considered because universal suffrage is considered now a basic human right.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21
(1) Everyone has the right to ...
- 4,662
23
votes
Accepted
Was Nixon right, and if so, to what degree was he right, when he said that "... but when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."?
The fuller context of the quote (emphasis on the part the question quoted):
Frost: The wave of dissent, occasionally violent, which followed in the wake of the Cambodian incursion, prompted President ...
- 125k
23
votes
Accepted
What are grooming gangs in United Kingdom, and why is it a political issue?
Grooming, in this context, means "The act of gaining the trust of a minor [or other vulnerable person] with the intention of luring them into an abusive sexual relationship."
Yes, it is a ...
- 106k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible