I think the retribution vs rehabilitation balance is heavily dependent on the crime and is not really reflected in our penal system.
If you committed murder, rape, kidnapping, and really have no chance of ever reentering society, then it should be retribution. Basically how do we house these people for the rest of their lives in a cheap manner? And I really could care less about their wellbeing/condition.
If you commit a property crime (lets say you were stealing from a liquor store) or a drug crime, what is the real thing going on here? Are you desperate because you have no money and the easiest way to get some is to run around with a gun and rob people? In that case, rehabilition is a lot more useful. The person is only going to jail for 3-5 years and is going to have to come back into society and find a job and a way to live.
They get out of jail, are a felon, and now nobody will hire them. What do you think they are going to do? Go back to the only way they know how to make money which is to steal or deal drugs or something illegal to get by.
So to say we have to rehabilate murders is unpalatable to most people, and to say we have to punish people who are only going to jail becuase they are desperate to begin with is ignoring the underlying cause.
Most rape convictions are for consensual statutory rape. Most kidnapping convictions are non-custodial parent abductions. Neither of these are violent crimes that threaten society.
If you committed murder, rape, kidnapping, and really have no chance of ever reentering society, then it should be retribution. Basically how do we house these people for the rest of their lives in a cheap manner? And I really could care less about their wellbeing/condition.
If you commit a property crime (lets say you were stealing from a liquor store) or a drug crime, what is the real thing going on here? Are you desperate because you have no money and the easiest way to get some is to run around with a gun and rob people? In that case, rehabilition is a lot more useful. The person is only going to jail for 3-5 years and is going to have to come back into society and find a job and a way to live.
They get out of jail, are a felon, and now nobody will hire them. What do you think they are going to do? Go back to the only way they know how to make money which is to steal or deal drugs or something illegal to get by.
So to say we have to rehabilate murders is unpalatable to most people, and to say we have to punish people who are only going to jail becuase they are desperate to begin with is ignoring the underlying cause.