>What is the alternative? If someone kills someone in cold blood do you just let them roam free? You could argue that certain crimes don't warrant certain levels of punishment but incarceration /generally/ seems necessary.
There are more crimes and pre/potential crimes than just violence and murder. We even treat some innocent people as guilty by locking them up. At least we wouldn't have innocent people in cages if there were no cages. Perhaps restitution or weregeld could be a substitute for theft or assault. But I strongly doubt that putting people behind bars does much to improve their lives or the ones they've affected in the overall vast majority of cases.
There are more crimes and pre/potential crimes than just violence and murder. We even treat some innocent people as guilty by locking them up. At least we wouldn't have innocent people in cages if there were no cages. Perhaps restitution or weregeld could be a substitute for theft or assault. But I strongly doubt that putting people behind bars does much to improve their lives or the ones they've affected in the overall vast majority of cases.