Presently in America, the state punishes and the citizenry isn't too enamored with the state. It punishes the poor and poorly connected savagely and the well-of

Presently in America, the state punishes and the citizenry isn't too enamored with the state. It punishes the poor and poorly connected savagely and the well-off inconsistently. Generally, I disagree with the assertion, and I would not be seeking to refine how we punish to be more effective and consistent. The goal ought to be to remove a person from their situation, show them a better way to live and slowly and patiently attempt to re-form them as people through real growth (skills, character, etc.) so that they can go back into the world better and don't need to reoffend. Obviously there's a long way to go to get there, but I think many countries have tried the other path and I'm not convinced it works.