Rose said:
I have never understood why jail is thought to be a suitable punishment for those who harm others.
Oh, this guy beat the crap out of somebody? Well let's give him a 'free ride' and make tax payers pay for his living costs. We'll make him sit in a boring place and 'think about' what he's done wrong. Yea! That sounds effective!
...... That sounds about as effective as time out. Shitty and horrible, another way for them to stew on what they did and build up resentment to make a solid grudge. Let's leave this unstable individual alone with their thoughts. Yup, sound logic right there.
Makes zero sense in my head, but then, I'm not the kind of person who does well with time outs either.
This is true for jail, but if this guy is convicted, he'll be going to *prison* instead of jail. The difference between the two is like going to summer camp and eating pb&j vs. being thrown into a pit with vipers and told to befriend them.
Unless they label him as a special prisoner and put him in solitary for his entire sentence, the likelihood of him coming out of prison in one piece after doing something like this is slim to none. It may be all taxes paid/free accommodations/food/health care, but that also means that they'll just stitch him back up and throw him back to the wolves after each time they come after him. And depending on the prison, they might publicly announce to the cell block who he is/what he did and just let them do whatever they want short of killing him.
Source: One of my relatives has spent the last 30 years working in prisons around the country, and this is almost verbatim what he had to say on the matter. It's not PC, but he's not the kind of person to sugarcoat. It's not my opinion in any way.