Scott Keller on Crime

Transform prisons so they help people reform

• Address root causes of crime such as economics, education, scarcity.
• Wouldn't ever get to a 3 strikes mentality. Prefer true reform.
• "Death penalty" is no "payment" for a crime, even murder.
• Transform prisons so they help people reform.
• Crime punishment should be designed for making amends, as well as punishment.
• Change the education system and economic system.
• End the "first make thieves and then punish them" system.
• Shift to abundance, meaningful work, and purpose.

Strongly oppose mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws

A: strongly oppose. 1. serious crimes should never make it to the 2nd strike. 2. victimless crimes shouldn't be crimes.Q: Your opinion on our VoteMatch statement, "Death Penalty"?

A: Strongly oppose. Pretty straight forward.

Address the root causes of crime, rather than Three Strikes

A: Oppose. Crime rates in the US will dramatically lessen if we address the root causes of most crimes--imposed scarcity, poor economic models, and poor educational models among others. If someone gets to three strikes then the problem may really be ours, not theirs. This doesn't mean to be soft on crime, but rather to be harder on the roots of the problem rather than trying to only deal with the symptoms.

Killing is no "payment" for a crime, not even a murder

A: Strongly opposed. Killing someone does not bring about a "payment" for a crime, not even a murder. I think we can be more innovative and thoughtful and come up with ways that the criminal can be useful to society and useful to the victim's family rather than becoming murderers ourselves as a society.

Prison/jail needs to be a place of reform and repayment rather than just a place of needs-met isolation from society. I have a number of ideas and suggestions for how to make prison work for society rather than just being a burden on society. An example America could take after is the Norwegian prison system, which at first glance may seem to nice, but in reality, effectively lowers crime rates and rehabilitates criminals. We don't even try to rehabilitate people in prison and Jail any more.