We might have our kinks, but I don't think that most of the people in jail ended up in there because "Yea, what you were doing was allowed by the law, but you know we kind of didn't like it".
When that finally starts to happen in the USA, you can count on me being in the streets protesting.
Edit: You may also want to consider the current practices in Germany regarding frivolous law suits against websites. We aren't the only country with this problem. So is every place.
>We might have our kinks, but I don't think that most of the people in jail ended up in there because "Yea, what you were doing was allowed by the law, but you know we kind of didn't like it
And it's not like that in France either. You have to take into account that some HN users are real experts on U.S legal matters, whereas most European legal matters are discussed on here without much if any professional legal expertise.
>Edit: You may also want to consider the current practices in Germany regarding frivolous law suits against websites. We aren't the only country with this problem. So is every place.
I assume they are referring to the cease-and-desist letters sent to websites that don't publish an "Impressum"[1] (information about the person responsible for the website, including an address and phone number). It's a holdover from print publications, and there's a bit of legal uncertainty as to whether it applies to small private websites, but the threshold for it being required is really low.
Unsurprisingly, this has created an industry of scummy law firms that specialise in finding infringing websites and sending them cease-and-desist letters with a bill for their legal fees attached.
That's against the letter of the law, rather than some vague interpretation thereof.
I know there are problems with the application of three strikes, but it's not terribly unreasonable to say that we have little cause to believe that you will reform after, say, murdering or raping your third victim and therefore little reason to let you out of prison such that you can seek new ones. And it's your third felony that puts you over, it's not like they can bust you for jaywalking, though I'm sure there are exceptional cases, which could be corrected by presidential pardons if there was good cause to believe they've repented.
But I'm sure that's an unpopular opinion here, as I doubt many people here have ever had to worry about someone in prison for murdering their mother who also threatened grandma. Now, it's great if people reform, but committing your third felony is pretty good evidence that you aren't likely to.
The absurdly low dollar value for felony theft or property damage doesn't help.
Heck, there's places where 15 over is a misdemeanor and any sort of misdemeanor is a pretty big roadblock to upward mobility if you're starting from a low point.
When that finally starts to happen in the USA, you can count on me being in the streets protesting.
Edit: You may also want to consider the current practices in Germany regarding frivolous law suits against websites. We aren't the only country with this problem. So is every place.