The punishment should fit the crime, plain and simple.
I'm not that sympathetic to criminals in general. On the contrary, my background is in criminal justice. It?s just over the years I have come to the conclusion that our judicial system is very flawed. Here are a few examples of facts from PrisonMates.
In 1996, 641,642 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses; that's approximately one arrest every 49 seconds. About 85% of those were for simple possession--NOT manufacture or distribution. (1997).
Eighty-four percent (84%) of the increase in state and federal prison admissions since 1980 was accounted for by nonviolent offenders
In 29 years, 1973 - 2002, 100 DEATH ROW inmates were found to be INNOCENT and set free. That's almost four per year.
And everyone favorite....
72% of male inmates have participated either willingly or unwillingly in homosexual intercourse.
Warden