Matt Whiting wrote:
My beliefs are very rational. If you were a rational thinker you would
see that. Letting criminals virtually go free for their crimes is one
reason our crime rate is so high.

I submit I can find statistics showing a higher correlation between high
employment levels (a robust economy) and lower crime rate than any
correlation statistics you can find for tougher sentencing yielding lower
crime rate.

You ever read, or at least see one of the film versions of, Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo? Would you have insisted Jean Valjean have his fingers cut
off? You do know what his original offense was, don't you? And the original
sentence? No fair looking up the answer! :-)

Say - did you know the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required the return of
escaped slaves to their owners? A pretty clear cut law - so how would you
have handled a situation where you knew of an escaped slave?