What should happen to the New Orleans looters?

[microbet]

Here are a couple thoughts.

White policeman sees white man taking stuff from store and thinks he's saving his stuff. He sees black man getting stuff from store and shoots him. Riots. I guess that's not very likely in New Orleans or maybe it's an emergency so this kind of thing is just a necessary part of dealing with it.

Policeman is given orders to shoot someone on site if they see them walking out of a store holding stuff. Bad day for that policeman I guess. Oh well, I guess that's just part of the job.

Buh, I'm not even sure you are serious.

[BCPVP]

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Since there are no facilities to detain violators they are left with a choice of protecting the property or ignoring the violators -- I would choose to protect the property.

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You never answered my post. How is this shoot-on-sight policy not a gross violation of the 8th amendment? You are advocating the death penatly for theft! Is a human life worth less than a tv set?

Besides, I think the choice the police have right now is whether to deal with looters or help those in danger from the flood waters. You are advocating that the police stop helping rescue people and start murdering people for stealing some food and stereos.

[KJS]

Nothing.

The store owners are not taking a loss here; they are insured. In fact, you could say that by now, any goods they have are owned by the insurance companies. But the insurance companies will not salvage most of them in order to sell, so the goods themselves have no inherent value, IMO. This goes especially for food items. By my way of thinking, they are now valueless items and should be free.

Open the doors of the grocery stores and let people have the stuff.

KJS

[adios]

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Nothing.

The store owners are not taking a loss here; they are insured.

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Not sure about this but isn't there an issue regarding what damage was caused by the hurricane winds and rain and what damage was caused by flooding as to whether and what people are covered for? My understanding is that most homeowners insurance does not cover floods and separate flood insurance must be purchased to cover flooding. Not sure if this extends to busnisses but I'm guessing it does.

Imagine if you're not covered by flood insurance trying to convince an insurance company that the damage was due to the hurricane and not the resulting flooding.

[sam h]

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Imagine if you're not covered by flood insurance trying to convince an insurance company that the damage was due to the hurricane and not the resulting flooding.

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I'm not sure, but I think that many insurers do not necessarily cover damage from "natural catastrophes" or require additional policies for that. If an insurer did have extensive coverage in the NO area, I can't imagine them not going bankrupt at this point. I smell an enormous government bail-out on the taxpayers' dime...

[hurlyburly]

Historically where does the money come from for rebuilding after hurricanes? Is the majority from insurance or Federal funds?

[SheetWise]

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By my way of thinking, they are now valueless items and should be free. Open the doors of the grocery stores and let people have the stuff.

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I don't think it's "free". They could definitely leave an IOU. Starving is one thing ... what do you do about the guy who decided the flood was a good opportunity to get his fiance an engagement ring?

[Felix_Nietsche]

Martial law and shooting looters after huricanes use to be SOP(standard operating procedures). As a teenager I would watch the news coverage of hurricane damage and the policy of shooting looters was common place.

I'm not sure why the current state govenors are not doing so.

[johnc]

[ QUOTE ]
Martial law and shooting looters after huricanes use to be SOP(standard operating procedures). As a teenager I would watch the news coverage of hurricane damage and the policy of shooting looters was common place.

I'm not sure why the current state govenors are not doing so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would you shoot someone coming out a store with a basket of canned goods, camping gear, and water (technically looting)? I couldn't. Obviously the stereotypical looting of TVs and stereos is what most are talking about here but given the circumstances and resources stretched to the limit how is it possible to discern? I also can't see handing that responsibilty over to private citizens who probably won't exercise proper judgement when protecting their property (protection of life is a completely different matter).

[Felix_Nietsche]

Would you shoot someone coming out a store with a basket of canned goods, camping gear, and water (technically looting)?
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No.......
Would I shoot people stealing TVs and microwave ovens...Yes!