“No, I don’t think the result is the same at all. Germany offers a safer environment than we do.”
Not only did I not say otherwise, but I actually agreed on this point by way of stating that I attributed this more to culture than anything else:
“...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.”
I also haven't argued one way or the other as to whether Germany should have the death penalty; I only noted that we should continue to maintain it here.
Where we differ is not whether Germany has a lower crime rate or not. The first place where we differ is that you said it's because Germany keeps its murderers locked up. I've shown that Germany doesn't lock up its murderers anymore than the US. The US has a very high closure rate on crimes of murder, and a very high conviction rate for the crime of murder. In fact, generally speaking folks charged with felonies in the US have a conviction rate of 90%. Finally, the US has an average murder sentence served that is quite comparable to Germany's, perhaps even a bit harsher.
These are a couple of key performance indicators of a judicial system: Does it catch the bad guys? Does it keep the worst of them off the streets for long stretches? The US and Germany are comparable in these key performance indicators.
But clearly, as you mentioned, German culture is more rule-bound, and that is likely the primary driver of why German society has a lower crime rate.
sitetest
And oyu assumed that I meant they just throw away the key. Certainty of punishment is a far better deterent than long sentences. As to culture, how does one separate the judicial system from the culture, and if the aim is to keep people safe, then the Germans do a better job than we do. Unless things have changed radically, the Germans do n fear to let their children roam the neighborhood and cower in fear in their airconditioned homes. The state has the right to execute prisoners and in our country we have the right to bear arms, in part because of the failures of our legal system to protect us against criminals.