See, I'm not against punishment per se, but a person has to have an acceptance of the punishment for it to stick, no? I mean, it shouldn't be up to them, of course. But if the person feels that the only thing they did wrong was getting caught, then it doesn't matter what you do to them, all they're doing is bidding their time.

Which is why I feel like the rehabilitation part is more important. Besides, the emprisonment and inherent curtailing of normal freedoms and liberties is an inherent punishiment, I should think.

Maybe it's just me. But having to do my business in the open, having to shower in public, being told when to get up, where to go, what to eat, when to go to bed, and so forth... that'd be a punishing experience for me.

And the story about the cop killing the dog...

That, to me, is an abuse of power. I'd go too far if I were to say that it smells of sociopathy, since animal cruelty is one of the first signs of sociopathic development, but there's a devaluation of life here that I find appalling.

When you go to a house and you hold someone at gunpoint, how exactly do you expect the person's faithful pet to react?

But this is indeed in line with all the stories we hear about police officers shooting unarmed people who were going for their wallet or shooting kids in the back who were running away from them or killing innocent people for no good reason.