[coldtea]

>Returning them to prison can only do more harm than letting it go, and seems more spite than justice.

Well, from "three strikes law" and solitary confinement allowed to run for years, to the death penalty, "more spite than justice" covers the US legal/prison system perfectly.

[tyingq]

FWIW, it's not just three strikes.

In Texas, for example, charges can be enhanced, up one level (Class A/B/C misdemeanors and felonies) for a single prior conviction.

The enhanced charge then later, becomes leverage to further enhance future charges.

It has resulted in some odd sentences, including 16 years for shoplifting a candy bar. This was someone with lots of prior charges, but all of them for relatively minor shoplifting offenses. The felonies mentioned in his history were "enhanced" charges.

http://lubbockonline.com/stories/070100/sta_0701000106.shtml...

[coldtea]

>It has resulted in some odd sentences, including 16 years for shoplifting a candy bar. This was someone with lots of prior charges, but all of them for relatively minor shoplifting offenses.

In Europe there's a strong tradition of tolerance towards those kinds of things, and I think at least part of it (because they did use to happen in the 19th century and prior) is because of the figure of Jean Valjean being a prominent counter-example.

Btw, isn't it also the case in the US that those who attempt to escape are getting an expanded sentence? One very humane thing I've read, is that in some countries such as Germany attempting to escape is considered part of the basic human nature towards freedom, and is not punishable (except if you commit another crime during your escape, but the escape itself does not add years to your term).