A Stitch in Haste

A just-released Justice Department study finds that recidivism is an all-too-common phenomenon among violent felons:

More than half of those convicted of violent felonies in large urban areas between 1990 and 2002 had previous convictions, the U.S. Justice Department reported Sunday.

Nearly four in 10, or 38 percent, had some type prior felony conviction, while an additional 18 percent had a prior misdemeanor conviction, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said.

Fifteen percent were guilty of a prior violent felony -- murder, rape, robbery or assault. Rapists were least likely to have a prior conviction.

So explain to me again why it's the sex offender who is most likely to be subjected to registries and red-lining, if they're the least prone to recidivism -- the exact opposite of the argument originally posited when such registries were first established?

Punishments and penalties ought to bear some rational relation to sound policy and empirical evidence, not vigilantism and schadenfreude.