> Prison based punishments have proven to be a terrible deterrent over time.

I've sort of given up hope of people ever coming around to this in the US. People in the US like revenge too much. Not sure anyone past college age is really capable of evolving on this once they've dug their feet in.

Comparing the justice systems in the US and Europe will make your head spin, and once you realize just how unnecessarily cruel our approach is in the US, it's even more tragic to see widespread brainwashing into defending that system.