Comment by morgante
3 years ago
> By this logic we should just never release them.
The problem with that is it removes the deterrence effect—if you're going to get the same punishment for murder as for shoplifting, criminals will exercise no restraint.
> Should we keep the 80% that would not reoffend locked up to prevent the 20% that would from doing so?
Why are you just making up numbers? The majority of violent criminals reoffend after release, often very soon after. [0]
> Because most people aren’t stopped by the deterrent effect.
Sure, most people don't commit crime because they're not morally bankrupt criminals. The point of policies is not to prevent normal people from committing crime.
Deterrence absolutely has an impact on criminal behavior. Why do criminals brazenly rob and openly deal drugs in San Francisco, but not in Miami? They know they won't be published in SF.
[0] https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-pu...
> Why are you just making up numbers?
I’m making a point. But numbers are more often around 20-40% in Europe.
> Deterrence absolutely has an impact on criminal behavior.
You just completely walked over the source I sent from the department of justice that said differently. Sentence length has no or minimal influence on criminal behavior.
> Why do criminals brazenly rob and openly deal drugs in San Francisco, but not in Miami?
You may notice that the same source indicates that the important factor is instead how likely you are to get caught, presumably SF police sucks at that?