It is more efficient (or it would be if we were committed to making it efficient. As Kasz pointed out, our current system of many appeals makes it costlier than just putting them away forever.
Ideally, the criminal system should be focused upon rehabilitation. Isolate the sociopaths, the really, incurably rotten people, have them classed as a mental disease and keep them interned for life or treated with medication as needed. The ones who aren't mentally problematic should just be re-trained.
I don't mind the idea of privatizing prisons, but even privatized (by having contractors manage them) prisons should absolutely *not* be working for a profit, but should rather be like "involuntary vocational rehabilitation" forcing the inmates (who aren't incurable sociopaths) to develop a skill that will allow them to live as productive citizens.
Punishments should be focused on real-world solutions, too, for non-violent or non-sexual crimes, like, say, Bernie Madoff, who should just be forced to give up all of his assets to the people he scammed, and to keep working for the purpose of repaying them rather than just being stuck in jail.
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
