Speakeasy forum: Escape or Stealing?

successfully breaking free once under the control of a captor. Being sighted in the act of a crime and turning to run is called "fleeing the scene". What a person should do who witnesses such a crime would depend on the type and circumstances of that crime...or so I'd think. Just how important is it that the person not be allowed to get away. The actions would be different with someone stealing property than they would be with someone who'd just committed violence. I'd be more prone to letting a person run who'd just stolen a pack of cigarettes than someone who'd just shot me or another person and tried to flee.

This is an interesting concept that seems in great error when applied to crime. If a disproportional rate of crime is committed, then a disproportional rate of punishment will result. How then can one claim such statistics is disproportional in an effort to reduce the effort for people to be protected against such disproportional criminals? I've seen this advocated as if it's some sort of discrimination in our prison system because there's a disproportional number of inmates compared to some other group. Whatever happened to "do the crime, do the time"?

Don't you think a thief sets the value of his own life or possible injury when he decides something is worth the risk to steal it? Still, the value of the item would have a bearing for most on whether they chose to shoot or not.

Nobody makes a thief hang on to what he is running away with other than himself. He can drop it and keep running. Everytime I see riots where thievery is going on and police show up and don't shoot at those running away while still holding the goods, I realize they've just reinforced the idea that it's OK if you are allowed to get away with it. Unfortunately that thinking has infected others who should know better.

White collar crime is not location & time specific and nobody is running away from a crime scene still holding their ill gotten gains. That's why it's treated differently.

the fact they steal from you with computers and lies makes it a lessor crime?

BS

Someone who wipes out your life savings with electronic theft shouldn't be given as severe a sentence as the man who breaks your window out to steal a tv?

you don't want to hunt him down?

Yeah, I know what you're saying. You're saying if you can kill him in the act it's ok. If they catch him later that's different. Why?

If you can kill him for running away with goods in his hand, why isn't it a death penalty when you catch him? After all, you said he set the value on his life when he decided to steal.

Do you consider trespassing justification for shooting? breaking in your house and you come home to catch them?

I admit it seems wrong to let the thief run off with your goods, but shooting someone in the back running away doesn't seem any better.