Example from this thread
60 Minutes piece on 'Stop Snitchin' and countless others.
Apparently, only "non-violent" criminals should do time is the gist of a lot of responses to threads like above. Search the archives and you'll find topics along the lines of "Should a felon own a gun", etc. etc.
Where did this attitude come from? Mostly from libertarian types.
Why shouldn't these "non-violent" crimes be felonies?
- someone steals your id and wipes out your savings, checking, Roth, 401K, other accounts? Where's the violence? You'll have to live off Alpo for the rest of your life, but that's OK, no violence is involved.
- someone steals your car in the middle of the night while you're smoking a little weed and watching Spongebob Spongepants? Where's the violence? In Texas you can shoot the perp(s)
- illegals cross the border, give a fake SSN, work for 5 months, racks up thousands of $ in government handouts, hospital bills, etc, then skip town. Where's the violence?
- Clinton commits perjury, a felony, but never convicted. Did he bitch slap anyone while perjuring?
- spys steal military secrets and sell them to China or North Korea? Who got physically hurt?
- tax evaders, everyone hates taxes, but I hate paying taxes on those who evade them. I pay enough, why should I pay for a liar and cheater as well?
The above are just a few examples of "non-violent" felonies. Theft, obtaining property under false pretenses, fraud, burglary, a lot if not most white collar crime, are felonies, and just as deserving of being a "felon" as are so called "violent" felons