After 32 years in Law Enforcement, I have come to know quite a few intimate details about long-term prison sentences, and the men/women who serve them. Prison itself is a society not too unlike our own (on the "outside"). Yes, there are many comforts & accommodations, freedoms (options), and even 'good times'. In speaking with a good many "Lifers", the aspects of punishment, guilt, and unpleasantries are self-imposed mental states. Kind of like taking the hard-core alcoholic out of the pub, and making him endure an alcohol-free vacation in an otherwise 'paradise' setting. If you don't mind being there, it's not a bad place to be. As a member in this inner society, all inmates establish themselves as individuals. What type of persons they become is up to them, and how they interact with their environment.
I guess that in a long-winded way, what I'm saying is that scum is always scum, unless they choose to change. Either for the duration of their stay, or for the remainder of their days. Change comes from within, not from The System.
I don't care whose fault it is, Zachary Holly is the only one who has committed the crimes subject to this trial. He is a miscreant beyond change, as his behavior is ingrained too deeply to be overcome. Yes, that may be due to his particular upbringing, but it is now a part of his very fiber. He will not change, and will only adapt and find ways to satisfy his perverse 'needs' on the "inside". Not all his prison-mates will be scum of equal standing, and not all inmates will be deserving of the misery Holly would, no doubt, inflict upon them.
Some may quote, "... Thou shalt not murder". Others may say, "An eye for an eye, ..."
I believe that to best protect both the public (yes, sometimes they DO get out) and the prison (both staff and population), there can be only one reasonable decision. Guess how I voted.
