Quote Originally Posted by Odelay View Post
I believe you might be approaching reform from the wrong point, broncofan. I'm very skeptical of using prosecution as a means to achieve a desired objective. The war on drugs and the death penalty have failed to reduce drug dealing or murder.
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The amount of deterrence a punishment will have differs based on crime. People who are addicted to drugs probably aren't deterred very well because they have a biological craving. People who commit crimes of passion probably would not be either since they act without much deliberation. Then there's the question of marginal deterrence. If you punish rape as severely as murder, then all rapists (those without conscience) would murder their victims because there's no margin of deterrence. So the amount of deterrence depends upon what punishment you are starting with. Police officers who commit violent crimes are often avoiding punishment altogether. So any potential punishment, if they believe they will face it, would be in stark contrast to a previous expectation.

You might get very little deterrence if you raise a prison sentence from ten years to 100 years. But someone who expects an acquittal will be more mindful if he faces the same system everyone else does and could go to jail.