[ArthurStacks]

And I'm sure if you had your way the prisons would be empty of anyone convicted of a drug related crime because 'they and their terribly sad addictions/illnesses are the real victims'

Theyre in prison as a punishment for crimes

[glommer]

Preston has never asked for anyone's sympathy or understanding about his past crimes. If you read his stuff, he owns it fully, is incredibly sorry. He's the first to admit that what he did had very real consequences.

[greglansky]

He's never honestly admitted his crimes in public, on his blog or anywhere. He doesn't own it fully, he tries to absolve himself of ill-intent thoroughly.

[ArthurStacks]

Great. Now let him go sit in a jail cell and recieve his punishment, and give the dev opportunity to someone who didnt sell drugs and chose the easy route

[bastawhiz]

To what end? To spend tax dollars? To make them rot away indefinitely?

What good are we doing to society if we are keeping rehabilitated individuals locked up at taxpayer expense? There's no objectively correct amount of punishment. The correct amount of punishment should be the smallest amount of time necessary to be confident that the criminal won't cause more harm to society, especially when the crime was committed as the result of a treatable illness like addiction.

[ArthurStacks]

To what end? Justice.

[bastawhiz]

Justice goes both ways. How much punishment is too much justice? At some point you're just being cruel, which the US constitution forbids.