Let's
try a thought experiment here. Suppose that we were to completely accept the
liberal-left notion that rehabilitation trumps justice and
deterrence.
Suppose
that we believed that those who truly wanted to change should be given support -
to the point that this would excuse the consequences of actions, and permit a
'free pass' to avoid prison.
As it
happens, for crime in general I do believe in rehabilitation - but
rehabilitation to me involves some common sense. Rehabilitation works only when
you have justice, deterrence, and public protection, as equally valid - if not
more valid - goals.
I put the
rights of victims first, and the rehabilitation of offenders (whilst important)
second. Protecting the public from further offences matters more to me than
rehabilitation, though a combination of prison and rehabilitation can achieve
protection of the public. And failing to deal properly with some criminals can
spur on others, so deterrence matters.
But let's
suppose that we placed, like the liberal-left, an undue emphasis upon
rehabilitation. In such a case, how would we react?
My point
is this: even someone from a liberal-left perspective, when confronted with
someone who suggests that it's okay to view images of child rape because it
'looked like they were enjoying it', should recognise that those views are the
views of someone who is rejecting their own rehabilitation. And if they don't
want rehabilitation, then surely even the liberal-left must return to concepts
like the protection of the public. Surely even the liberal-Left must realise
that failing to jail an unrepentant paedophile, one who is arguing in effect
that child rape is acceptable, is wrong?
You don't
have to agree with me that punishment matters, in order to recognise that the
sentence here is completely insufficient to fit the crime. How could it be
otherwise?
There
comes a point at which the Left's logic breaks down.
In Britain
Beyond Brexit (I'm speaking generally now, not about the case linked to) I
proposed that early release should be granted to prisoners only
if:
a) They
behave in prison
b) They develop their education in prison
c) They find a job to go to before being released
b) They develop their education in prison
c) They find a job to go to before being released
Proper
rehabilitation! We'll actually help ex-convicts to break the cycle of
re-offending.
And the
Left will hate it, because in order to argue against it they'll have to admit
that their talk of rehabilitation is just a smokescreen: they don't truly care
about rehabilitation, they just use it as an excuse to justify their view that
we should be soft on crime.
This case
isn't an isolated instance: many criminals show utter contempt for the justice
system. Those who show such contempt should face proper
punishment.
My
grandfather fought in many of the major battles of the Second World War. He
missed Dunkirk by just a couple of weeks but after that he was in every major
engagement of the campaign. We have a picture of him together with most of his
regiment before they were deployed. Of the soldiers in the picture, I think just
three survived the war unwounded and the majority were
killed.
After the
war, one of his duties was to deliver a military prisoner to the army
glasshouse. He said that he never knew fear so much as when he spent just a few
minutes as a visitor to that military prison. Think about that for a moment: the
fear of such a prison exceeded the fear of fighting the Nazis in pitched battle,
frenzied battle which gave him nightmares for decades. What a deterrent that
must have been! If I recall correctly, he said that a sign above the door said
"Anyone who enters here is a volunteer".
Punishment
of those who don't want to rehabilitate should be like that: it should induce
such fear that the fear of returning to such a place itself becomes motivation
for a desire to rehabilitate. Where the carrot fails, the stick must be
effective.
That's why
I support - for those who laugh in the face of our justice system - boot camp
(glasshouse) style prison wings. Deterrence works when it's truly deterrent in
nature.
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