>>"... A person who is convicted of 5 misdemeanors (and I would be amenable to certain misdemeanors) should have their charge elevated to a felony status...."
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>>Very dangerous line of thinking. For example, there is a guy in california who got busted for stealing a snickers candybar from a gas station (shoplifting - he was hungry). Well that was his 3rd misdemanor, so they upped it to a felony - which made it his 3rd felony (3rd felony in a LOT of years) - which means the 3 strikes rule applys - so the guy got a life sentence - for stealing a freakn candybar! And you know what? That guys is going to be there until someone changes the law. This is just one example that's become more popular than some of the others - but there are 1000's of guys in the USA that have been totaly screwed because of thinking like this.
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>Yep, you're right, we shouldn't do anything to anyone for robbing, raping ,murdering, or stealing. Just let them do what they want. I mean, can't we all just get along? duh
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>You're breaking my heart with these anecdotes. Ever hear the one about the two thugs who broke into a woman's house, beat her and raped her while her son was there? One of them used her cell phone to call a bud and brag about the other thug who was busy raping the woman at the time. I'm sure you think they only did that because of something George Bush did that day....

uhhhh...
The point I was making is that the guy who stole a 49cent candybar is doing more time than these two raping thugs you're talking about - and that it's wrong wrong WRONG.