Skyrim Has A Prison Population Problem
The penal system in Skyrim is nearly uniform across the game world's nine Holds, where shockingly short sentence lengths indicate there may be a systemic issue with the province's prison population. Even the most heinous crimes committed by the player only land them in one of the region's small prisons for only a week. Avoiding sentencing of any kind by paying a fine regardless of crime committed is a questionable legal policy, but it may actually be an unfortunate result of a prison system constantly flooded with inmates.
Although it was likely designed so that it didn't inhibit gameplay, Skyrim's prison system doesn't make any sense in the ways criminals are punished. Being able to exonerate oneself by paying a fine to the first guard to arrive on the scene essentially makes any crime legal for the upper class, given they are willing to literally pay the price. Beyond that, it is impossible for the player to be given a sentence that exceeds seven days. The Dragonborn going on a killing spree and nearly wiping out an entire city only gets them locked up for a week at most.
Related: Skyrim's Secret To Joining The Thieves Guild Without Jailing Brand-Shei
One of the few plausible explanations for such a confounding penal system is that the province of Skyrim is so littered with crime that prison populations are exceedingly high, so the prisons themselves have effectively been operating on revolving door policies. The prominence of the Thieves Guild in Skyrim is good evidence for how little control the government has over its rampant crime issue. So many prisoners must be coming into the system that the guards have no choice but to cap sentences at seven days, lest the prisons become overcrowded.
Prisoners are an expensive
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