I mean, I fully acknowledge that I have a “bias” in what I believe here, but practically, I want us to make decisions based on the evidence and numbers as a soc

I mean, I fully acknowledge that I have a “bias” in what I believe here, but practically, I want us to make decisions based on the evidence and numbers as a society, not on how it makes us feel? I don’t know if I’m articulating that right, but I want policies that reduce the rate of recidivism more than I want to make the things right by the victims of crime. I can’t change the fact that someone was harmed, but I can support policies that make people less likely to be harmed in the future. This sucks if you’re a victim - I fully acknowledge that. But I want to prevent the next 4 victims, not punish 1 offender. Am I right? I think I might be on the right track, but I don’t know. I think we need to do some real science to find out, and that’s time consuming and expensive. To be honest, racial equity movements, poverty reduction, and unleaded gasoline has probably done more to prevent crime than any punitive tools of the state. But I’m not qualified to really assert that… so even for me it’s “feels all the way down.”