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More a philosophical question on whether jail is for punishment or rehabilitation. Clearly the impact and scale of this crime was large and far reaching, and n

More a philosophical question on whether jail is for punishment or rehabilitation. Clearly the impact and scale of this crime was large and far reaching, and negatively impacted society more than most murders would have. Thus from a punishment perspective, sentencing should be harsher than lesser crimes. From a rehabilitation perspective... is the offender likely to commit a similar crime again? What harm does he possess to society going forward? In most of these kind of white collar crime cases, I'd guess the answer is "not much risk". Reputation being tarnished is enough to prevent similar scale fraud a second time. Though of course could operate through proxies/hidden channels. I'd be interested to see the recidivism rate for different types of white collar crime. Some people believe more in punishment, some in rehabilitation. If you look at it strictly mathematically/economically... the "best" outcome for society is likely to optimize for minimizing future negative externalities... so the people who pose little future threat should get shorter sentences. And this is somewhat how it works in practice in many cases (sentencing differentials for white collar/rich vs blue collar/poor).

jfengel 4y ago
I feel like the punishment or rehabilitation dichotomy is looking at the wrong question. When your code breaks you don't blame the user. You figure out the problem was. Why did that guy want to commit this crime? Why was it possible? As far as I'm concerned we should just let him go, or look at some kind of "restorative justice" program even though it can never begin to repay people. I see zero reason for him, or anyone, to spend time simply rotting. But they point to much bigger issues where jail is no solution at all.
- adam_arthur 4y ago
  If there’s no jail there’s more incentive to commit crime, which is also not good. I don’t think the length of the sentence materially alters the incentive structure, but there definitely needs to be repercussions for people who break the law/harm others
  - jfengel 4y ago
    "Jail" is a relatively recent concept, dating only to the 18th century or so. A lot of history existed without jail as a punishment. It was considered the less-barbaric alternative to other punishments. It's still pretty barbaric. And we know it's not much of a deterrent, since the jails are full to bursting. I'm hardly an expert, and the experts disagree on the approach. But I think it's important to reconsider our notion that "jail" is the viable approach.

jfengel 4y ago

I feel like the punishment or rehabilitation dichotomy is looking at the wrong question. When your code breaks you don't blame the user. You figure out the problem was. Why did that guy want to commit this crime? Why was it possible? As far as I'm concerned we should just let him go, or look at some kind of "restorative justice" program even though it can never begin to repay people. I see zero reason for him, or anyone, to spend time simply rotting. But they point to much bigger issues where jail is no solution at all.

adam_arthur 4y ago
If there’s no jail there’s more incentive to commit crime, which is also not good. I don’t think the length of the sentence materially alters the incentive structure, but there definitely needs to be repercussions for people who break the law/harm others
- jfengel 4y ago
  "Jail" is a relatively recent concept, dating only to the 18th century or so. A lot of history existed without jail as a punishment. It was considered the less-barbaric alternative to other punishments. It's still pretty barbaric. And we know it's not much of a deterrent, since the jails are full to bursting. I'm hardly an expert, and the experts disagree on the approach. But I think it's important to reconsider our notion that "jail" is the viable approach.