[Shivetya]

So how do we deter people from stealing other people's stuff without jail time or financial penalty? Where is the dollar limit? You have one else you would not bandy about numbers. Three hundred might not be much to some of us but for others it might be that weeks pay. Should the penalty be proportional to the effect it has on the victim? Steal from the poor and suffer more?

Crime occurs when penalties make it more profitable to commit the crime than not. The cost to society is paying to prosecute, reform, or lockup, people who do not adhere to the standards of the society they live in.

How about community service, at minimum wage until the work equals the value of what was stolen even if even the items were recovered? It will cost society money to manage it but it keeps the person off the street for part of the day and might teach them something useful, like being polite in a polite society