Now That is Punishment

I am a funky mix when it comes to crime and punishment.

I don't believe the prison system should be seen as a rehabilitation system as its primary function. Prison is for punishment. The point of prison is doing time, not helping the inmate.

However, I am opposed to the death penalty. Killing anyone for any reason is wrong. And death is not punishment; it is escape. A dead man is beyond our capacity to punish.

Compare, for example, death by lethal injection, which ends the life of the inmate, to this, courtesy CNN:

Once in prison, Moussaoui will be in lockdown for 23 hours of every day, with one hour of recreation daily. He'll also spend that one hour alone.

The same four walls, every day, no conversation, for the rest of your life. Now that is punishment.