On Tuesday, The Daily Caller posted an article about the consequences of commuting the sentences of criminals rather than having them remain in jail. Commuting sentences was a common practice during the Covid-19 epidemic to prevent the disease from spreading through jails. However, to me it would have been more logical simply to limit the access of prisoners to people from the outside to avoid bringing in the virus.

The article reports:

Many of the criminals who Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear released under executive commutation during the COVID-19 pandemic went on to commit new crimes, a report from the state’s government showed.

The report examined the criminal records of the approximately 1,700 criminals that Beshear had released in April and August of 2020 to reduce the prison population during the pandemic. Of those released, roughly 70% went on to commit crimes, with 50% committing felonies within less than a year of their release. 

“I believe the last round of commutations was fairly successful at getting people back in society and making sure they are healthy, and we are looking for the same here,” Beshear said after releasing a second round of inmates in August 2020, according to ABC13 WBKO. “I wish each of those individuals a better life moving forward, one that is constructive, one that they can find purpose in, whether that be faith, family or a good job. Let’s help make sure we can work with these individuals and give second chances.”

…Crime spiked in 2021 following Beshear’s commutation order and remained above pre-pandemic levels until 2023, the report showed. Overall crime in April 2021, which marked the crime level peak in Kentucky, reached record levels which was higher than the previous record high by 36%, although the report noted that a relatively small number of released offenders contributed to the jump in crime.

Anyone who has raised children knows that if there are no serious consequences for bad behavior, that bad behavior will continue. There is really no reason to assume that if you let a criminal out of jail before he has completed his sentence, he will immediately become an upstanding citizen. It does happen, but it requires a lot of work by a lot of people who know what they are doing. Otherwise, it’s a disaster.