Also coming into this is the common decades long time between conviction and punishment in these cases.
Excellent point!
One of the first things we learn as parents of toddlers is that punishment needs to be dealt
immediately after the child has done something wrong, or else they never connect the two incidents together.
Now of course adults on the surface know that they are being punished for the crime they committed, but could the sub-concious be down-playing the severity of it because of the lagtime? And also, what kind of message does it send to the public as a deterrant when the criminal just sits in stasis with no real punishment being done for their crime - Nothing!
