People with a burning desire to believe that anything that isn't overly punitive is a sign of weakness and moral decay. The sociopaths aren't the ones looking a

People with a burning desire to believe that anything that isn't overly punitive is a sign of weakness and moral decay. The sociopaths aren't the ones looking at ridiculous punishments for minor offenses and trying to get them reduced. They're the ones who are held back from committing obvious crimes by criminal penalties, instead of just not being an asshole. A felony for $950 in stolen goods? You're not gonna get that conviction without a court, which means that everyone involved in that chain, from the judge, to the lawyers, to the compensation of the jury, to the bailiff, to the entire police apparatus involved in apprehending and charging them, and so on, is gonna need to be compensated for handling the issue. And that's before any time is served. If you aren't going to try to root out the true cause of why people are stealing, you might as well just throw a ton of money in a giant pit and have a cookout.