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Originally Posted by Mass Appeal
Except that when we find out someone has been jailed wrongly we can release them.
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Can you give them back their years? Can you give them back their relationships? Their self-dignity? Can you erase the years of abuse at the hands of other inmates? Can you make them *just like they were*?
No. You cannot.
You can NEVER undo a punishment that involves jail time, any more than you can one that involves death.
Fix the system. This continual focus on one particular punishment is just a distraction from the real problem.
For those particular cases where there is no question of guilt (which are few), and where there is no realistic chance of rehabilitation (which I firmly believe in, and our current jail system lacks), then there is no good reason why the rest of society should support their life. They have shown themselves to be incapable of not being a danger to others, and have volunteered for removal from society. To do so at the expense of other pressing needs of those who *do* wish to be contributing members (such as education), to support their lives is, in my opinion, unconscionable. There are others who need. Don't waste societal resources on those that have proven themselves to be incapable of being part of that society.
As I said, it is unfortunate that we no longer have penal colonies we can send such cases to. They should be removed from society, and asking society to support them instead of contributing members is insane.