Is There a Difference Between 20 and 30 Years in Prison?

"Sheriff Clark's dumbass idea about reducing crime with longer prison sentences only makes sense if he's operating off a single variable calculation. And that variable has to be retribution," the author said. "He wants to be the one punishing someone very harshly, and he's trying to trick you into thinking he's doing it for your benefit." The cost of incarcerating people who are reaching the ages where many of them have steep medical expenses is a really dumb idea societally, especially considering all you would be doing is wasting money on programs that don't solve problems like crime.