Richard Casady wrote:
On Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:02:11 -0400, HK wrote:

Theft, typically, is a non-violent offense.

That is only because we decided to call theft robbery if it is
violent. And it is only non violent if the victim chooses to not
resist.

Casady


Oh, I think there is a bit more to it than that. Theft, for example,
typically does not involve the thief directly engaging face to face with
the victim. If you are held up at gunpoint, you've been robbed. If
someone steals a pocketbook from a desk, the crime typically is not
robbery, is it?

According to the OED, robbery...


1. a.1.a The action or practice of feloniously seizing, by violence or
intimidation, property belonging to another; spoliation, depredation.

I seem to recall discussing the fact that the United States imprisons a
higher percentage of its population than any other modern western
nation, and what might be done to lower that number. My suggestion was
to reduce sentences for non-violent criminals and to decriminalize
certain offenses, such as possession of "personal" amounts of pot.