I understand your point, but it's not about "any crime", it's about a very specific variation of a crime. Imagine DUI having a much more severe punishment and z

I understand your point, but it's not about "any crime", it's about a very specific variation of a crime. Imagine DUI having a much more severe punishment and zero tolerance limits if the driver was caught between 10pm and 11pm. Now, it's 10:30pm and you've just had half a pint of beer. You need to drive back home. What do you do? Heck, you wait half an hour! Will it decrease total DUI? No. But 10pm to 11pm will be the safest time in the streets. Poisoning your spouse now leads to a mandatory death penalty? Good. Now you'll just strangle her. A gang is defined as 5 people or more? Excellent. All robberies are now performed by strictly no more than 4.99 people. Crack is being cracked down upon? Fantastic. We'll smoke weed/tobacco/soap/whatever. When there is an alternative, not using it is just dumb.