@DD: Keeping Manson alive and in jail was absolutely the right thing to do. Dead and he would be a martyr for his supporters. It was an unusual case in any direction.
It’s pretty easy to look at the recidivism rates for these things and make a decision from there. But I think it is more interesting to look at recidivism rates in socially equal countries, then figure out what we or they are doing right and wrong.
Example: In the Czech Republic, the recidivism rate for rapists is something like 17%, while in the US it is something like 83%. (The rate added to 100 which fascinated me and I know we were 80s, they were 10s, I think I’m getting this right, but the class was 2 years ago.) They do a number of things differently when it comes to rape including the idea that rape can be a fetish—a psychological condition.
Thus, you can get tested to see if you have the fetish and are accordingly eligible for an insanity plea of a sort. If you plea insanity, you still go to jail, then after you go to a psych ward until they deem you ready to re-enter the world basically. And they do give you release if you’ve reformed/improved.
Now there may be other influences on these cases, I don’t know, but I do like looking at this very different system and saying, “Well something must be working there that does not work here” and wish we would implement some of their ideas. It might not be the perfect solution, but it would be a start.
I’m probably a bit off topic at this point, but I basically think that given the proper treatment and incentive, people can change their ways. But it would require a total overhaul of the system which currently creates an atmosphere so unlike the real world that those who exist in it for too long find they can no longer function properly outside of it.