I think modern incarceration systems need to seriously refocus their methods on two principles:
1. Keep all convicted victimizers locked up until, if ever, they no longer pose a threat to innocent people in society.
2. As quickly as reasonably possible, release everyone who we can safely release into society.
Focus everything to do with sentencing, detaining, and releasing convicted victimizers towards accomplishing those two principles.
I say ‘victimizers’ rather than ‘criminals,’ because I consider it absurd to waste resources arresting, convicting, and detaining people for victimless crimes.
For the same reason, I find it absurd to keep rehabilitated people in jail. The quicker we get them out, the quicker we can put dangerous people behind bars. Dangerous people get released from overcrowded jails to make room for non-dangerous people.
I find it equally absurd to release unrehabilitated victimizers just because a certain amount of time passed. Forget the whole flawed idea of maximum sentences!
What do you think?
