No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been.

Summary

This quote suggests that punishment alone is not effective in deterring crime. It argues that no matter how severe the punishment, once a crime has been committed, it is more likely to occur again than it was initially. This implies that the deterrent impact of punishment is limited and fails to address the underlying causes or motivations for criminal behavior. The quote invites us to consider alternative approaches to preventing crime that go beyond punishment alone.

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