[jmcarter]

18th century French philosopher Cesare Beccaria wrote a great piece “On Crimes and Punishment”, I remember it because one of my professors told us about being selected by the Kentucky governor to serve on a penal reform commission based solely on him parroting different themes proposed by Beccaria. Our criminal justice system is so flawed it’s pathetic. One of the things set forth by Beccaria was that crime is not deterred by the severity of punishment but rather its certainty. Compare that to the “catch and release” mindset so common today.