Posted on 05/06/2007 4:35:11 AM PDT by Leisler
THE HAGUE, 05/05/07 - Most criminals in the Netherlands should be able to serve their sentence at home in the future. Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin is to introduce house arrest as a new main punishment. Criminals can then also visit friends or a mosque for two hours a day.
Judges will have the option of imposing house arrest as the main penalty, with a maximum duration of four months. Because sentences are relatively short in the Netherlands, the majority of criminals will be eligible for this. The Lower House does still have to pass the proposed bill, sent by the minister Friday to various bodies including the Council for Jurisprudence (RvR) , the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) and the Netherlands Bar Association for their advice.
Hirsch Ballin expects house arrest to offer a solution for cases where a fine or community service is experienced as too light and "a stay in prison is not seen as necessary" or is seen as too severe a sentence, according to Trouw newspaper. Expectations are that judges will impose fewer jail sentences.
Under the bill, whether criminals remain in the vicinity of their homes will be monitored by an electronic ankle or wrist-band. Those convicted will however be able to leave their homes for two hours a day. This will only be allowed according to a schedule agreed beforehand. The two hours can be used for doing shopping, visiting family, sports activities or a visit to a mosque or other religious event.
If the criminal leaves home outside the times agreed, an alarm will go off in a police reporting room. The minister also wants to maintain unscheduled home visits as a means of checking. If the criminal fails to stick to the regime, the old situation will come into effect: house arrest will revert to prison.
Those under house arrest will receive welfare payments. Only if they run a company from their living-room or do other work that yields sufficient money will they receive no financial support from the minister. They can also do a home course.
"House arrest is experienced as a real punishment," according to a spokesman for Hirsch Ballin. "At the same time, social networks remain in place."
The measure is primarily intended to relieve the prisons. The Netherlands has been struggling for years with a shortage of cells, even though the number of people in prison per head of population is about six times lower than in the US.
Typical liberal garbage. Liberals really don’t want anyone to go to prison, or be punished, because liberals don’t judge. Liberals are tolerant. Criminals aren’r really responsible. Society did it to them.
I don’t think anybody in Holland goes to church anymore. That probably didn’t even come up.
As long as you believe what THEY believe.
“Criminal” in the Netherlands is synonymous for Muslim.
” Criminals can then also visit friends or a mosque for two hours a day “
Interesting ‘freudian slip’ here..... Implication is that the typical Dutch ‘criminal’ will attend a mosque???
Hmmmmmmmm.........
ARE THEY BARKIN NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, what a great idea. Why don't they just rename the place Hollandistan now, because they're only a few inches away from becoming what is functionally a Sharia state.
Maybe if they had to stay at home with a wife like hillary or Rosie O’Donnell this would be punishment.
"Holland and the EU are already dead, Jim"
Are they nuts over there? So you go and commit a crime, get to stay at home, and collect government welfare? When your jail sentance has run out, go and commit another crime and start this endless cycle all over?
Wow! Harsh! Next thing you know, the judge will take away the perps extended cable privileges and sentence them to basic cable.
For instance, imprisonment for non-violent property crimes (theft, fraud). It doesn't bring back the stolen property, and the thief sits on his backside in the most complete public housing, feeding, education, medical care and retirement program in the world.
In the ever-popular "make me dictator for a day" fantasy world, I would make non-violent property crimes punishable by double restitution: the thief returns what was stolen, twice.
Someone steals a ten-dollar bill, must restore $20.
A car thief would return the car, pay for any damage done and cleaning needed, and additionally the monetary value of the car. If the car was destroyed or irretrievably lost, the monetary restitution would be double the value of the car. If the car was later recovered, it would become the property and responsibility of the thief.
A fraudulent banker would actually keep his job while donating his assets and income above a subsistence level to restitution until the fraudulent takings were restored twice over.
Of course there are a lot of obstacles to doing this, but I think it still adds up to benefit...
Church time, gotta run, enjoy your day.
Besides, how do you think a person, habituated to crime, disdainful of boring, low wage work with all the stiff? What, you think he/she/it is going to take a part time night job and pay with after tax dollars? Personally, I'm in favor of defending one's crappy car, box of old work tool just like Brinks or a Diamond wholesaler defends his property. With lethal force. For about ten years the media will be full of the usual pity stories about how young (fill in the blank) was a 'good kid' that was 'getting his life together', bla, bla, bla. We got plenty of young, illiterate, lazy, child making punks and we wouldn't miss them a bit.
God=God...Caesar=Caesar
Later read/pingout.
Mercy to the cruel is cruelty to the innocent.
A criminal with a few smarts can easily squeeze in a decent crime in 2 hours.
I can imagine people committing crimes just so they can laze around at home getting welfare and still getting 2 hours a day to visit friends and the local mosque.
Watch crime plummit with this severe punishment!/not...
Just institute public canings. Cheaper, quicker, and much more effective.
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