Don't think there is much doubt that sentencing is balanced against capacity. It wouldn't surprise me if magistrates and judges got monthly updates on seaside vacancies.
The thing that irks me is the tongue-in-cheek blase attitude to the term sentenced being reduced by half - that's a ruse to persuade, ha!, the prisoner to behave himself while inside rather than outside. Then fling him out to inflict all over again. A significant part of this problem is the life experience of the sentencer. Judges live in a rarefied atmosphere and are far less likely to experience what others do.
In the cases of cruelty to animals, which often leads to harming people, the conscience of the judge is only affected by emotion, the actual law comes second. In addition, parole panels should be identified and have their decisions examined by a wide selection of members of the public -let's say a reconstruction of the jury that produced the verdict.
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member no. 235
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