this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2026
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I understand the rationale behind punishing an attempt at theft if that's what actually happened, otherwise a would-be thief has no incentive not to try. It's critical to be right before doing that.
The drug charges are just fucked. Drug possession should not be a crime.
I have never and will never see someone stealing food.
Or important supplies, like diapers, baby formula, etc.
The only thing I see people steal is our wages by the rich.
You get it.
Let's assume that - deliberately and with malice of forethought - this person stole asparagus.
What is the appropriate punishment?
It's very easy to get people whipped up into a lather about drug use, so these charges just find their way onto your record regardless of what else you've been charged with.
Asparagus rustling is henceforth punishable by death.
Asparagus is my drug
Yeah, I'm so done hearing about crime reduction by making examples of people.
It's an asinine perversion of logic to even consider that argument.
Loss prevention is built into every business' insurance policy. Major corporations don't lose money from shoplifting any more than they lose money from throwing out old food. It's all written off and covered.
Disagree, it's petty theft at absolute worst, and there's no good reason to react that way to it.
Give the option to pay or return it, make note of the person so if they make a habit of it you can respond, but this is just ridiculous
With the rise of the surveillance state, I don't know why this isn't the best option for the store and the cops. Wal-Mart is recording everything you do in their store, including what you do and do not scan. They set the value to it all, so they can calculate down to the penny the moment that your thefts amount to grand larceny instead of petty larceny. They've got every piece of evidence the state would need to try to convict on the felony instead of the misdemeanor. Seems like a slam-dunk for both parties: the cops aren't getting their time wasted responding to calls about $5 in asparagus, and Wal-Mart isn't getting this exact bad press written about them.