I read a lot about crime, and cops, and how the cultures of criminality evolve. Today Sam Bankman Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The judge cited his lack of remorse for his massive (massive) fraud. But it’s always a tough one - how to punish a financial crime vs crimes against the person. There are stabbers and rapists who get less than 25 years. Bankman Fried is a crook, but is he worse than a child molester? (Or to put it another way, who would I feel safer living next door to?).
The way I look at it is that rehabilitation is generally a waste of time. Criminal punishment should be primarily about either removing the offenders from society, or discouraging either active or potential offenders from offending again. SBF is not a violent man, but he stole a lot of money, and very likely will attempt to do such again as long as he thinks he can get away with such. A nice long snit in a real prison is exactly the sort of thing that could conceivably discourage him from thinking he can get away with such behavior again. But if he decides to ignore such a lesson, he'll at least have the decency to be out of our hair for a decent stretch of time.
We are encouraging the politicians we keep electing. They are as crooked as he is and we pay them to steal from us.
The way I look at it is that rehabilitation is generally a waste of time. Criminal punishment should be primarily about either removing the offenders from society, or discouraging either active or potential offenders from offending again. SBF is not a violent man, but he stole a lot of money, and very likely will attempt to do such again as long as he thinks he can get away with such. A nice long snit in a real prison is exactly the sort of thing that could conceivably discourage him from thinking he can get away with such behavior again. But if he decides to ignore such a lesson, he'll at least have the decency to be out of our hair for a decent stretch of time.