Most offenders in the U.S. prison system that U.S. citizens tax dollars are paying for are not violent offenders, at least not until they've been in and out of the prison system at least once, then their chances of committing additional crimes sky rocket.

So to answer your sneakily worded question (throwing in the word violent like some kind of gotcha for the first time): I personally don't want more people in prison because I think it is wasteful both in terms of capital and in terms of human experience, there are proven better alternatives like rehabilitation that work for most people and have significantly better outcomes, and finally because the united states prison system is effectively captured by corporate interests which is antithetical to a society that should be against cruel punishments.

Sure but as long as we are on the same page about aggressively pursuing and incarcerating violent criminals

Did I say that someone who commits a violent crime should avoid prison?

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

In my opinion the problem is extreme sentences for non-violent crimes and a society that encourages recidivism by excluding the possibility for felons to re-enter society.

I’m glad you agree we need to aggressively prosecute violent crime, which is something that is not aggressively pursued in my large blue American city

> I’m glad you agree we need to aggressively prosecute violent crime

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

You are hysterical.

Why is your focus so narrow on ensuring people get punished for crimes rather than ensuring there is no crime? We have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Increasing that isn't going to turn us into Iceland.

Incarceration isn't for punishment. It's not for justice. It's not for rehabilitation. It's too protect society from the evil doer.