What should be the penalty for "looting"?

[kentuck]

Should it be a crime?

Or should it be over-looked because of circumstances?

Is it simply part of the formula: "No justice - No peace"?

Is it racist to be "anti-looting"?

Personally, I cannot accept it as part of any solution to the problem, no matter how angry or justified one might feel.

Just my opinion.

[NaturalHigh]

1. "Should it be a crime?"

Yes. Hell yes.

[msongs]

2. a new tv might solve all my social problems :-) nt

[jamzrockz]

3. I think if it

happened during natural disaster and the items being looted are items essential for human survival like food, water, medication etc then the penalty should be fines items that amount to the value of goods that was looted and damages to the store.

Anything else and during any other time, the penalty should be fine plus jail time. If there are no penalties for looting then I might just start looting bestbuy now

And no being anti looting doesn't make one racist, stop being ridiculous.

[get the red out]

5. It's a crime

In my opinion, it's people with criminal intentions taking advantage of protests.

[vlyons]

6. Looting is stealing

Each state defines looting differently. Depending on the value of what's being stolen, it can be a misdemeanor of a felony. Here in Texas, if you steal meat, even a $3 package of lunch meat, it's a felony. The prosecutor can also throw on breaking and entering charges. And since looters are usually running away, there will probably charges for resisting arrest.

Character is what you do when no one is watching.

[killbotfactory]

7. It would help if we treated the people who are looting as citizens in the first place

and not as a herd to be who needed to be policed and culled.

[kentuck]

8. We can agree on that.

But I think we still need to adhere to the "non-violence" policies of Gandhi and King.

[whatthehey]

38. If they are looting, they do very much need to be policed.

[JonathanRackham]

9. If it was food and basic life necessities

for immediate survival in the moment then I'd give a stern talking to and let it be.

Electronics, liquor and jewelry are not on that list.

Survival after a hurricane, natural disaster is survival. If you're angry and these are your actions then shame on you.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. I'm not sure...

I don't know enough about crowd psychology, but when it starts I suspect that a lot of the normal checks that we have get blown away somehow by mob behavior. In one way, of course a thief is personally responsible, but when the mob mentality takes over there should be some way to take that into account for the individual.

If there is a way to identify whoever is out there starting it or egging them on, penalties should be maximum.

[jtuck004]

11. Wellllll...it depends on what your definition of "looting" is. Do you mean some poor

working schmuck who busts a window to steal a tv that is worth more than a month's pay from the cheap bastard who employs him? Because he or she lives with no hope in the "greatest" country in the world?

Or do you mean the bank$ter/jihandists who donate to political parties that change laws which allow them to inflate prices with imaginary money and rob the lifeblood and livelihood, and sometimes the lives, from more than 8 million American families, stealing or causing the loss of trillions of dollars? With the bank$ter/jihadists then rewarded for their theft?

I think people who are worried about "looting" are mostly missing a discussion over the lack of justice, freedom, and respect that led to why they are calling it "looting".

[kentuck]

12. Even with all the social ills and injustice...

It is difficult to justify theft and destruction of private property, in my opinion. An eye for an eye and soon we are all walking around blind.

[jtuck004]

24. We reward and laud criminals if their theft is large enough. Make 'em black and put 'em in

front of a store and many moralistic platitudes last only as long as a plate glass window.

Where were all the calls about "looting"when these banks were writing loans to black folks with the same credit scores, good jobs, homes, etc as white folks, but charging them higher interest rates because they were black? That's just since 2004, btw.

The theft and destruction of their spirits - on both sides - started a long time ago or maybe just the day they were born - one with a silver spoon in their mouth, the other knowing that their contributions would never matter as much as the color of their skin. Looking at one without the other isn't looking very hard. Had we started working on this when it mattered, this wouldn't be happening.

Over the years I've noticed we as people choose the evil we are bothered the most by. That tells me as much about us as the incident, so I doubt it will get much better.

[kentuck]

28. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine."

I agree with almost all that you say. However, we have a moral obligation to try and live in peace. America has always been the most diverse country in the world. Sometimes it is not easy to hold it together. It could easily splinter into violence and racial divisions. It has happened before.

I think the key to survival is education. We must educate people to understand who and what is screwing them over and punish the culprits accordingly. That is the more rational justice, in my opinion.

[jtuck004]

37. "we have a moral obligation to try and live in peace." Mostly the folks we are talking about

were trying to do that, before their ancestors (and grandparents in some cases) were enslaved, murdered, and forced into laboring for mostly white europeans, who then created new laws that defined slavery and racism in ways that had never existed before.

Some things have changed, but their children can't even walk out the door without knowing if they will be killed for the color of their skin that day.

And you want them to live in peace.

That's what they want too.

[kentuck]

39. We can live in peace or we can settle it in the streets?

Which would you prefer? There will be no winners. There are tea-baggers that would want nothing more than a race war.

I think we need to work non-violently for a better society.

[DrDan]

15. exactly . . . theft will solve the "lack of justice, freedom and respect" issues

[jtuck004]

23. Never said it was a solution. Just predictable. And hardly the biggest theft or destruction of

property out there.

Our planet is destroying itself because we can't slow down our burning of fossil fuels. These people are pikers compared to the money wealthy, mostly white folks are making from that destruction.

And someone else is doing all the work for them.

I think you worry about things that are too small. See ya.

[DrDan]

27. so the looting and destruction in Charlotte is "too small" to be concerned about

oh yeah - and the subsequent shooting

. . . . got it . . . see ya

[Whiskeytide]

32. I like your take on this, and agree with it...

... for the most part. But my problem with this kind of looting is that it is counter productive to the purposes of the protest. Many people - esp here in the deep South - forget the protest and see only the lawlessness. It tends to reinforce their preconceived prejudices about the "protestors". All it takes is one pic of someone exiting a Best Buy with a flat screen on their shoulder, and you get "so THAT's what this 'protest' is about"!

So while I agree that looting is a rather inconsequential event from the prospective of a criminal justice analysis, I would argue that it IS quite significant as a hinderance to shifting societal views. Just my .02.

[jtuck004]

34. "...a hinderance to shifting societal views" < There are tens of millions of

people following a racist, xenophobic, misogynist real estate swindler. All of which were these kinds of people before the protests.

Now, they are suddenly going to be influenced by whether Joe smashes a window and grabs a pair of jeans or a phone, or not?

Seriously?

I won't disagree, but maybe it's just a racist country, and this really isn't a game changer for anyone.

I think I will wait for further results.

[Whiskeytide]

40. There are people who "support" Trump...

... but please don't fail to distinguish them from the traditional republicans out there. His active supporters are unreachable. But most of the republicans I know are not completely irrational, and their support for him is luke warm at best.

But the topic at hand was looting, not Trumperism, and I wasn't really linking the two. You're correct that anyone who sees looting and uses it as an excuse to vote for Trump is an asshole, and always was.

My republican friends and acquaintances, on the other hand, can understand the issues of BLM, and I can have a duscussion about it with them and find a surprising amount of common ground. But when the looting starts, the issue discussion shuts down. That's all I was saying. I resent the looting - not because I don't understand where it comes from or why it is predictable - but because it BECOMES the issue for many people, and the protest falls by the wayside.

[jtuck004]

45. He has tens upon tens of millions of active supporters, none of whom are the least bit

shy in saying so. I know there are others, but these are a huge block of disaffected people, now connected in new ways.

Don't mistake them for anyone who is going to change before they are dead. They are how they are, they will live out their lives as such, and they are teaching their children the same things. (Note: Those supporters start from one those more liberal generations that came along with the 60s - these were the kids then. lol).

Anway, as Mrs. Clinton says, "Hearts don't change, not really".

It won't matter if your protest is sitting on a bench, marching in a street, or refusing to move to the back of the bus. They will never give the respect that is being requested, so I am not sure how something that's likely never to change is damaged.

Not that people shouldn't "protest", and I don't mean we just let it go, but there is a lot more than just some looting.

Ironic - it's been a quarter of a century since Do The Right Thing showed...

"“White people still ask me why Mookie threw the can through the window,” Lee said in an interview. “Twenty years later, they’re still asking me that.”

“No black person ever, in 20 years, no person of color has ever asked me why.”

http://thegrio.com/2009/07/04/do-the-right-thing-turns-20/


Hearts don't change.

[liberal N proud]

13. It should be treated like any other theft

If the value of items stolen exceeds $400 (some states $1000) it is grand larceny and can be prosecuted as such.

Just because there is protests in the streets doesn't give you the right to break into a store and steal.

Tying race to looting is just exasperating race issues, justice is supposed to be blind.

[DrDan]

14. it's theft isn't it? pretty simple it seems to me

[Exilednight]

16. It depends on circumstances.

Katrina is a prime example where I find looting not to be a crime, providing that the looting is essentials like water and food, NOT large screen TVs.

[Yo_Mama]

20. That wasn't looting - that was scavenging.

I remember a Walmart in Gulfport that opened the doors and allowed people to come in there and take food, water, ice, charcoal, etc. There were two guys with rifles sitting out front to keep order, but the food was going to spoil and the people needed it, so. ...

[Exilednight]

41. tomato tamato.

Wal Mart could have kept the doors shut and claimed it on insurance.

I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart, but in that case they did the right thing.

[Nye Bevan]

17. It needs to be punished very severely, more so than "normal" robberies.

Because if it is not, there are people who will deliberately start riots because of the opportunity to loot free stuff.

[baldguy]

18. If unwarranted violence by the police against the public in your city causes riots in the streets

Looting is the least of your problems.

[mythology]

49. Except the rioters didn't wait to see if it was warranted

We haven't seen the video(s) yet. We have two different stories we don't yet know how much of either is accurate.

[Yo_Mama]

19. It's a crime. "Should be" does not come into it.

You can't change laws based on identity.

But realistically, when you have widespread mayhem, it is very hard to find and charge looters.

[randr]

21. Looting dishonors protest

The two are not related

[RobinA]

22. Yes It Should Be A Crime

Except in cases where there is a supply interruption and people can't get necessary supplies. Tiolet paper during Katrina, or food. Not a problem. We shouldn't be arresting people for stealing food they need.

Other than that, it's a crime. There is really no excuse.

[oneshooter]

25. If looting is "ok" then should it be against the law to use force, up to deadly force, to keep your

property safe? After all that is your business and your living.

[d_b]

26. Paid administrative leave?

I dunno.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. Well, there's that whole "innocent 'til proven guilty" thing.

Of course, it would be nice if it applied to everyone, not just cops.

[kentuck]

31. Of course we could not hear the conversation on the ground in the Tulsa shooting.

My hunch is that they were yelling for him to "get on the ground" and he just walked away from them. The lady cop said she had never been more afraid in her life.

But, why do Americans have to "get on the ground" during a routine traffic stop or for no other reason than that the cop is "afraid"?

It's a very huge problem.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

33. I'd bet SOME cops were yelling for him to get on the ground, ...

... while OTHER cops were yelling for him to put his hands on the roof of the car.

And, yes, there's not much more scary than someone walking AWAY from you with their hands in the air. Of course she feared for her life.

On this issue, I just might agree with Trump: that cop might be in the wrong line of work.

[metroins]

29. Stop the riots and you stop the looting

Police should move in and break up the unpermitted protests before night fall. Most of the protests are breaking the law, such as impeding traffic. Move them to a safer spot.

Spontaneous protests like these should be controlled.

College team wins or loses championship? Likely some rioting at night. 500 younger people show up in one intersection? Likely rioting later that night with looting.

Arresting people after the fact is secondary to preventing it in the beginning. But yes, if people loot, that is stealing and they should be prosecuted.

Honestly, I don't know why people protest, the only thing that matters is the elected officials. You make change through laws and regulations, lobbying is a heck of a lot more efficient than protesting.

[LWolf]

35. It depends.

There's looting, and there's looting. Gratuitous destruction and theft? There should be penalties. PENALTIES MUCH LIGHTER THAN THOSE IMPOSED FOR THE SHOOTING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE BY POLICE.

When there is no justice, or weak justice, for the killing of innocent people, I'm not going to get my panties in a knot over justice for looting.

More destructive action as a demonstration? Well, it's certainly part of the founding of our nation, if those tea merchants in Boston Harbor are to be believed.

If tptb are not listening, do not take action when demonstrations are peaceful and law-abiding, do citizens being threatened have a right, or a duty, to take it further? That's the debate. I say yes. I know the arguments. What are those on the side of peaceful actions and letting them play out, letting more time while people are dying pass, willing to do to encourage action and protect the threatened while waiting for tptb that clearly don't have racial justice at the top of their priorities meander around, expressing shock, horror, and sorrow, while they do nothing to prevent more?

[Brickbat]

36. Rioting is the language of the unheard.

Some guy we all love to quote said that.

[Bonx]

47. So what language is looting ?

[onecaliberal]

42. Same as the penalty faced by cops for killing these people.

[jmg257]

43. Taking shit that's not yours is a crime, as is breaking stuff that's not yours.

Don't want to be charged? Don't steal stuff.

[sarisataka]

44. Looting

Should it be a crime? Yes

Or should it be over-looked because of circumstances? Only if it is a matter of survival due to a breakdown of infrastructure

Is it simply part of the formula: "No justice - No peace"? No

Is it racist to be "anti-looting"? No more than being "anti-theft" is racist

What should be the penalty for "looting"? The same as for theft

[MineralMan]

46. Jail time and fines after a trial and judgment of guilt.

Just like any property crime.

[mrmpa]

48. the penalty should not be jail..........

it should be instead being ordered that the offender should assist in cleaning up the looted areas.