Marion Jones was released from prison today. At least our tax dollars were able to keep this hardened criminal behind bars for a little while. Too bad our nights of sleeping peacefully are over.
Seriously though, it would be great if our legal system could be revamped to use prison for those who are a physical danger to society and find alternate punishments for others. I understand prison for rapists, murderers, drunk drivers and such. These individuals have demonstrated they need to be contained. Prison should not be the punishment for a crime but more a location for punishment to take place for those who warrant confinement. Those who break the law must experience consequences and these consequences should reflect the seriousness of the crime. Surely our society is wise and creative enough to come up with deterrents that don’t involve putting an able and harmless people in a box at the taxpayers’ expense.
