Image via WikipediaI just read that 406 people have been arrested in the States by the FBI in “Operation Malicious Mortgage”. Just in case there were any doubts, this was part of the announcement:
“To people who have committed fraud or are contemplating doing so, FBI Director Robert Mueller said: ‘We will find you, you will be investigated and you will be prosecuted’.”
And I guess he means it because 406 people is a huge amount of detainees. According to Wikipedia USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world, one in 32 grown ups are in jail or parole. I lived in the States for 18 years and I was sorry to see how popular it was to be tough on crime, rather relying on education and prevention. Having lived in Europe for over 10 years now I believe that, even though we err on the side of leniency, it is best to invest in education rather than incarceration.
I find it hard to believe that when the FBI arrests 406 people that they make no mistakes. I keep hearing horror stories of friends of mine who get arrested for hours just trying to enter USA, generally for cases of mistaken identities. And then there are the cases of people who were executed or on death row and found innocent. I know that in USA people think of justice more as a form of revenge than a chance to readjust people to society and I know that the subprime scandal has led to enormous losses, but if they are really going to put people in jail, how about starting with the people at the Federal Reserve who were asleep at the wheel?
Follow Martin Varsavsky on Twitter: twitter.com/martinvars
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