Lock the little bastard up....
The only drawback is that taxpayers will have to feed and medicate the worthless waste of oxygen...
Then I got to the part where they described the defendant's life of generally no good, and I just don't care. If they lock him up for the rest of his life, it will save us all a bunch of trouble and possibly save someone's life in the future. He contributes nothing positive to any society of which I want to be a part.
Three felonies is enough. Anybody who has been tried and convicted of three felonies on separate occasions has almost certainly committed hundreds more. We should kill any three-time felon with no more regret than putting down a rabid dog, because that is all he is.
Ah, you say, but his felonies were mostly non-violent... Well, I say even three non-violent felonies should earn him the noose. Such a man is a lifelong burden and plague on all of his fellow citizens.
Two violent felonies, or even a first offense for particularly horrendous violent felonies like premeditated murder or forcible rape, ought to merit the same treatment, every single time.
-ccm
40 years in prison = about $1,400,000 of the tax payers money for a doughnut and a push. Maybe there's a better idea.