08 September 2004

The Law of Unintended Consequences

[The mafia] used to break your thumbs or break a kneecap with a baseball bat if you were behind in your juice payments.

They don't do that anymore. You have to pay or you die.

Bosses don't want to be in and out of federal court with threatening people, and going back, and by then the guy's wearing a wire. If you've got him wound up so tight that there's nowhere else for him to go but the government, he's gonna go, and he's gonna wear a wire. If he owes and he won't pay, you want to set an example, you just kill him.
p. 303

[comment] I've discussed in previous punishment posts that if punishments increased the police would be placed in greater danger as those accused chose to resist rather than endure long prison terms. I must admit, I never thought of this. However, acting to prevent others from placing one in a position to receive a harsh sentence is a rational act - or at least as rational as any murder can be.

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