Is it valid to argue, in effect, that a criminal shouldn't be incarcerated because he's the father of five or six (or any) kids? Not unless criminal law is to be stood on its head.
Criminal law is founded on the concepts of individual justice and personal responsibility. The criminal's guilt and sentence are based on his behavior and his individual history, not on social concerns (or "social justice" to use the popular oxymoron).
Social considerations enter the equation at the level of determining what behavior is criminal. But this determination has never to my knowledge been based on the ability of a particular segment of society to avoid committing a type of crime.
Moreover, social concerns don't control sentencing. If they did, given the extremely high rates of recidivism, the result would be much longer sentences as a means of protecting society from crime.
Going easy on criminals because society needs them on the street would represent a new frontier in the war on standards....But suppose one takes [that theory] seriously. Is there evidence that the drug dealers and other criminals whom Obama wants to relieve from imprisonment will be a positive presence in the homes of the troubled youths of Baltimore and other cities? Is there evidence that, generally speaking, they will be a presence at all? Maybe, but I haven't seen it.
Another great liberal canard that has superficial credibility until one looks beneath the surface.
Black families are not broken by mass incarceration: nuclear families are not formed in the first instance. 72% of black births are non-marital. The lack of a working, pro-social male role model in the household is the primary problem in the black community.
In home, full-time dads are needed, A "fiance" who drops by once a month with a pair of sneakers is insufficient.
Should we kept this father at home?
"Brian Moore, the New York City police officer who was shot over the weekend by an ex-con, has died. Moore was 25 and had already received several police decorations.
Moore’s assailant, Demetrius Blackwell, reportedly has nine prior arrests, including two for assault on police officers. He was convicted of attempted murder for firing shots into a car, which is how he killed Moore. Thus, Blackwell had done it all before — he had assaulted police officers and shot at innocent people sitting in a car." http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/05/new-york-police-officer-dies-killed-by-man-who-should-have-been-in-jail.php
Professor Berman, which costs society more? Demetrius Blackwell incarcerated or Demetrius Blackwell free?
I would also note that Demetrius Blackwell has three children.
Are they better off with him home or in prison?