So there's this thing where I'm generally anti-carceralist, but sometimes you have to send a message that certain behavior is just completely off limits in society, and this is one of those cases. This guy needs to be made an example of.

If ever a case for a return of the pillory this would be it.

That’s not inconsistent - there are 4 goals of prison: deterrence, separation (get the dangerous person out of society for a bit), rehabilitation, and retribution. I just reject retribution as a useful goal; but here, some degree of punishment probably would indeed have a valuable deterrence effect

Would be neat if this standard could be expanded to include everybody engaged in this kind of behavior, but I seriously doubt such a thing would ever occur.

From what I've read—and also, it makes intuitive sense—you get the largest detergent effect not from long/harsh sentences but from rapid and consistent punishment. So good on the feds for jumping right on this and tracking this kid down fast.

Maybe I’m out of line here but I feel like murder and stealing beyond minor shoplifting should be completely off limits in society.