Imo, the primary function of criminal justice should be restorative justice, not retributive justice. So, sentencing should be as long as it takes to rehabilitate a person. Retributive justice can act as a deterrent, but that doesn't really apply to people who don't act rationally.
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
8 points (75.0% liked)
Unpopular Opinion
9140 readers
270 users here now
Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
How voting works:
Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
Guidelines:
Tag your post, if possible (not required)
- If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
- If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].
Rules:
1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
2. Be civil.
Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.
5. No trolling.
This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
6. Defend your opinion
This is a bit of a mix of rules 4 and 5 to help foster higher quality posts. You are expected to defend your unpopular opinion in the post body. We don't expect a whole manifesto (please, no manifestos), but you should at least provide some details as to why you hold the position you do.
Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Fair, but I think we could have an interesting discussion about what the bar for rehabilitation should be, because proving that can be incredibly difficult. Sometimes you simply can't prove it and the crime so heinous that society should simply not bear the risk. Life sentencing for serial killers is a perfect example.
When society addresses societal causes/exacerbations of physical and mental illness, wake me up. 🥱
Mental health care is abysmal. People who are a danger to others cannot be introduced to society without monitoring, and some people shouldn’t be introduced to society.
Bad things happen at institutions, so I’m not sure how to solve the problem, but sending someone free after they violently attack someone is just not a safe way to go about it.
For me, prison is about quarantine. You quarantine unacceptable behavior, not because they "deserve" it, but because they can't be trusted. I'm not interested in punishment. So I agree that NCR is invalid if the person's mental problems make them into a threat. It's not their "fault" but they still need to be quarantined somehow, because the rest of us have things to do. It's absolutely brutal but it's less brutal than letting criminal behavior run free.
I don't give a damn what the New California Republic says about my ADHD.
This story isn't about mental illness. This story is about a black immigrant who was sexually violent.
The offense people take over sexual violence has more to do with the status of the victim and attacker than it does with the act it'self. Rape is barely even illegal so long as you choose your victim wisely.