Punishment only works as a deterrent if it's Swift, Certain & Severe.Quote:
Harsh punishment makes for a good deterent.
Unfortunately, in the US none of the above applies. The court system takes too long. It's common for someone to get off on a technicality. And the severity of punishment is often quite lacking. There are cases where people who abuse animals get stiffer sentences then those who abuse our children!
And of course this presumes that the offender is rational enough to make a decision based on likely outcomes. Most sex offenders will admit to being unable to control their actions. Many plead not to be allowed out of prison. There have even been cases of convicted sex offenders pleading with the courts for chemical (or otherwise) castration.
With all that said, I think child molesters deserve a special place in hell. The new "sex offender registries" are a step in the right direction. Next we need to implement a system that warns the community immediately when a sex offender moves in. Then we need to implement some sort of implanted GPS on these predators, with chemical castration being one of the terms of their release.
We need to be more severe with the parole/probation terms of sex offenders. Their recidivism rate is incredibly high. We need to drag them back behind bars for the smallest of offenses/lapses in the terms of their release.
However, none of this will come to pass until we get out into the public eye and demand more money for our overburdened criminal justice systems. We need more probation/parole officers so they're not dealing with 200+ offenders each. We need courts with the time to pay attention to these crimes.
/rant
