2. The Map Thief: 9. How severe should penalties be for this type of crime

[Carol]

9. How severe should penalties be for art and cultural crimes?

[Angela]

Goodness, I don't know. It's not as bad as rape or murder, but it's hard to measure the effects of lost knowledge. I do think the judge was too lenient with Smiley. In my opinion, they shouldn't have gone down in sentence harshness (I forgot the term). Maybe up, but staying in the middle would have been fine, too. Three years seems like a slap on the wrist in his situation. At least he seemed penitent at the end and improved, but unfortunately not everyone is like that, and the book mentioned more map thefts. Seems like crimes increase in frequency as they're publicized, since it can give some people the idea or courage to do it themselves.

[Carol]

Penitent, that is the word I was trying to remember. Reminds me of Raiders of the Lost Ark. If they could put Smiley to work in prison for three years in addition to his sentence, I think that would have been a decent sentence.

[Cindy]

I think there tend to be lighter sentences for non-violent crimes. I understand that rationale but I agree that the map thieves sentences were too lenient!

[Pam]

Not sure what the sentence should have been, but prosecutors would never have known about all the maps missing without Smiley telling them. His sentence rewarded him for his cooperation - like what is frequently done today.

[Ayse_]

Anytime I get this question, Crime and Punishment comes to me.. Except for violent crime I also always remember Rilke- 'Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants help/love from us.”
Crime happens in a certain environment, just like microbes need a certain media to grow in the petri dish...I am without answers here...

[M.E.]

I am not sure what the sentence should have been. The system has come about over the centuries when stealing a loaf of bread meant imprisonment or worse. After all, it was theft whether it was maps or something else. He cooperated with the authorities which is taken into consideration these days.

[Ruth]

I think there should have been more emphasis on restitution, financially and community service wise. I think the prison sentence should have been longer--

[Chelsea]

This is always hard because there are so many things to consider.
1. It was his first offense - which typically makes the sentence less.
2. He cooperated and helped find more maps than the prosecution didn't know about - making the punishment less.
3. He stole millions worth of dollars - seems like it needs a higher punishment.
4. He vandalized historical books (ripping pages out! AUGH!) - rack up that jail time!
5. There's no way he could collect and return all the maps he stole - higher punishment in my opinion

It's hard to say because there's not too much to base it off of with prior felonies like this (and the ones before were very lenient).

I asked my husband who is a prosecutor, and he said in New Mexico he wouldn't be surprised if he got off with probation. Crazy, but our judges are very lenient here. But based on the extreme amount of money and damage that couldn't be restored, I think he deserved more jail time. I think they should put the base jail time higher for these type of crimes, and then lower it slightly for cooperation, but so that it more than 3 years. I'd say 5-10 years would be more realistic for this type of crime.