The parent post was lamenting that people find it far to easy to demand prison sentences instead of considering more humane forms of punishment. And "a night in

The parent post was lamenting that people find it far to easy to demand prison sentences instead of considering more humane forms of punishment. And "a night in jail" is not at all comparable to "six month in prison", including the likely loss of employment and employability, social stigma, straining of relationships, and so on. (ok, arguably the parent post was only about the restraint of freedom) The demand for imprisonment seen today in discussions like this is comparable to a medieval mob cheering for public executions. It is the most violent form of punishment our society uses, so the mob demands we use that - anything less would mean the unperson gets away easy. Most people seem to demand imprisonment with little idea how horrible that punishment actually is, or worse, they don't care, as long as there is blood for the blood god. Not to mention the costs. Let me reformulate it as a question of justification against alternatives: Why do you think imprisonment is necessary and useful in this case instead of a monetary fine or forced labor / "community service"?