Originally Posted by contango

I think the key issue with jail time is that it focusses on only one aspect of the justice system.

As I see it the justice system needs to do three things. It needs to punish the offender, it needs to rehabilitate the offender as far as possible, and it needs to protect society from the offender for as long as is necessary.

Punishing the offender can be done in many ways. Depriving them of their freedom is just one way - in some cases it may be more appropriate to impose a financial or convenience penalty. A heavy fine (the kind of fine that will make a significant impact in the offender's budget for some time) may be a more appropriate punishment than locking them up. Likewise taking away their driving license for an extended period may represent a better punishment.

Rehabilitating the offender can potentially be done in many ways, in or out of prison. In the context of drivers who kill other road users the detail of the event is crucial. With the best will in the world, accidents happen. The driver who has been involved in a genuine accident, even an at-fault accident, may not need to be rehabilitated in the same way as a driver who has been involved in multiple accidents and potentially needs to be retrained or taken off the road for a time (and possibly permanently).

Protecting society from the offender is where things can get thorny. The driver who is habitually dangerous may need to be taken off the roads, and if they continue to drive despite having their license revoked they must be prevented from doing so in the future. A driver who commits a genuine error, even if the result of that error is tragedy, is not necessarily someone from whom society needs to be protected.

Of course the worst part of the justice system is that in cases involving severe bodily injury or death there is no punishment that can restore the victim to how they were prior to the incident.