> It's disappointing how a supposedly "civilized first world nation" is so overly focused on revenge and punishment, and so little focused on rehabilitation. Y

> It's disappointing how a supposedly "civilized first world nation" is so overly focused on revenge and punishment, and so little focused on rehabilitation. You seem to be assuming that rehabilitation would work, if it weren't for {insert bogey-man}. How about some evidence beyond "wouldn't it be great if we rehabbed more folks?" > And, it's getting easier and easier to do a background check - so, a single misstep in life and it basically eliminates your chances to every recover. If you're correct that ex-cons are a tremendous untapped asset, there's a huge economic advantage to tapping them. Why do you think that "everyone" is ignoring that resource if it's actually real? Note that most felons in the US have a long history of "not felonies", a history that most people don't have. In the (paraphrased) words of Law and Order "His parole officer says that he's a good kid" "Yeah, all the best kids have parole officers".