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I think society should focus on the root issues that lead to crime. That said, there are a lot of people in the world who we cannot allow to walk the streets without being quite cruel to the law-abiding rest of us. Making amends is great, but it should not lead to release.

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Are those people the way they are due to some innate characteristics or could they have turned out differently in a different system?

If they are a true and active threat to those around them, does it matter?

Does it matter to how you treat those in front of you? Maybe, maybe not. There's a whole debate about the moral dimensions of responsibility and punishment to be had there, but it's beside the point I'm interested in.

Does it matter to your long term policy of how to deal with the issue of which they are an instance? Absolutely.

You waste human potential when you view the problem too narrowly.

When the words you use have been co-opted to mean people of minorities who are definitely not too cruel for society, those words lose all meaning. At this point, the cruel people look like a statistical anomaly.

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