What we know to be victimless crimes should no longer be illegal. A victimless crime is defined as an act that is illegal but has no direct victim; these crimes include prostitution, drug use, public drunkenness, suicide, trespassing, traffic citations and gambling. (Schubert, n.d.) If these crimes are hurting only the individual causing the crime, then who are they really hurting?
The United States of America has over 300 million people, and we have the highest prison population in the world. There are roughly 2.2 million people in prison or jail in the Unites States – being a 500% increase over the last 40 year; with 34% of that prison population being people incarcerated for victimless crimes. (The Sentencing Project, 2016) Now, imagine if all of the prisons are full. What happens when someone commits murder? Do we just let them go because there isn’t enough room? I believe prisons and jails should be occupied by serious criminals, and I don’t think people who commit victimless crimes should be labeled a criminal.
Not only are victimless criminals occupying the space in our prisons, they are costing us money that we do not necessarily need to spend. The average cost to incarcerate one inmate is roughly $31,000, but this can vary widely from state to state. A total of $63.4 billion in US taxpayers’ dollars go to the imprisonment of its …show more content…
The victim of this crime, is the same as the person committing the crime; therefore, leaving no victim at all. Now, because prostitution is illegal, if a prostitute is to be raped he/she may never come forward because of the worry that they will get in trouble for prostitution. Thus, leaving a rapist on the streets to continue raping. However, if prostitution were to become legal, I believe it would lower the risk of rape. Because if people were to know that they could legally always get sex in trade for money, there would be no reason to rape at
The United States of America has over 300 million people, and we have the highest prison population in the world. There are roughly 2.2 million people in prison or jail in the Unites States – being a 500% increase over the last 40 year; with 34% of that prison population being people incarcerated for victimless crimes. (The Sentencing Project, 2016) Now, imagine if all of the prisons are full. What happens when someone commits murder? Do we just let them go because there isn’t enough room? I believe prisons and jails should be occupied by serious criminals, and I don’t think people who commit victimless crimes should be labeled a criminal.
Not only are victimless criminals occupying the space in our prisons, they are costing us money that we do not necessarily need to spend. The average cost to incarcerate one inmate is roughly $31,000, but this can vary widely from state to state. A total of $63.4 billion in US taxpayers’ dollars go to the imprisonment of its …show more content…
The victim of this crime, is the same as the person committing the crime; therefore, leaving no victim at all. Now, because prostitution is illegal, if a prostitute is to be raped he/she may never come forward because of the worry that they will get in trouble for prostitution. Thus, leaving a rapist on the streets to continue raping. However, if prostitution were to become legal, I believe it would lower the risk of rape. Because if people were to know that they could legally always get sex in trade for money, there would be no reason to rape at