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Originally Posted by retiredguy123
Why do prosecutors and judges release repeat violent offenders into society when they know (or should know) that these people will commit more violent crimes? Why don't they prosecute them and put them in prison for the maximum amount of time prescribed by law? I don't understand the rationale. Do they really think that these criminals will go home and suddenly become law abiding citizens?
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With all the mind-numbing statistics thrown about in the criminal justice system, perhaps none is more important than the recidivism rate – the likelihood that someone who broke the law once will do it again after being set free. This is the number that tells us who we would be wise to keep locked up, and who is (statistically) safe to send home
The U.S. Sentencing Commission released the results of a major study of all 25,431 federal offenders released in 2005. For the most part it reaffirms the conventional wisdom of criminologists: older offenders and those with more education are less likely to return to a life of crime and the culture of their upbring.has alot to do with this problem. The single best indicator of whether an ex-offender will become a re-offender is the length and seriousness of his or hers rap sheet. The conclusions bear repeating, since they offer some guidance to policy-makers but are looking to please a lot of their constituents and who are mostly not criminologists.