[sitetest]

Dear RobbyS,

“And my original statement is true, I think.”

No, it was not. You said that murderers stay locked up. But the facts are that they don't stay locked up anymore than in the US.

“Maybe I should have emphasized the certainty of punishment.”

Here, too, despite the sensationalism in cases to the contrary, most murders in the US are solved, and the murderers mostly serve as much prison time as in Germany.

“The end result is that the average position is more secure in his persons and possessions than we are.”

I'm not sure this is a result of better training of judicial or law enforcement personnel, or that the judicial system has a somewhat different character.

“...because Germans are far more rule bound than Americans are, Americans in general”

This, I think, is closer to the truth. Germany's culture is different from ours, and is also more homogenous. A secondary effect of that may impact the efficacy and efficiency of the judicial system, but even if Germany had a less functional judicial system, I'd imagine that their crime rate (including violent crimes) would still be lower because, as you say, Germans are more rule-bound than Americans generally.

sitetest

[RobbyS]

No, I don’t think the result is the same at all. Germany offers a safer environment than we do. That you don’t have to have the death penalty to achieve that result. Some German communities will be safer than others, and probably where there are a fewer per cent of Germans, or in communities where —paradoxically they people never lived lived under totalitarian government. Point: the death penalty is not necessary to achieve the desired result. Indeed, it is counterproductive where people are repelled by the very idea. What is necessary is to have a police force with adequate authority and adequate training and in sufficient numbers to do the job. What is necessary is a judicial system that spends its resources enforcing the right laws, and judges who will weigh the evidence relatively unbiased by political considerations. No the last is the greatest danger to a proper system. The europeanization of national laws, the attempt to force every community follower the predilections of the European elites, who have more In common with their peers across the border, ends up making things worse for the people.