The key for members of the public is that they want criminals to be punished. They want them taken off the streets. They also want criminals who come out of prison to go straight.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's really important to me that the public have confidence in their criminal justice system. We don't operate very well if the public doesn't trust us.
We can agree that keeping serious criminals in prison is an effective means of preserving public safety, but we must also recognize that the axiom of 'putting people in jail and throwing away the key' does not apply to all offenders universally and can actually be counterproductive.
Private-sector firms are increasingly active in the prison industry and they and the militantly unionized correctional officers, almost all unskilled labor, constantly lead public demands for more criminal statutes and more draconian penalties.
Give the public what they want. What you want is unimportant.
Punishment can do a lot for criminals, and send a message to the rest of society.
You know that being a public figure is instantly grounds for prosecution.
The business of popularizing crime is how we expose the faults in our justice system. It's how we expose police misconduct.
We need criminals to identify ourselves with, to secretly envy and to stoutly punish. They do for us the forbidden, illegal things we wish to do.
There are few better measures of the concern a society has for its individual members and its own well being than the way it handles criminals.
Generally speaking, the public appetite for criminal justice policy is just tough talk.
No opposing quotes found.