It is my belief that when we hurt people, we owe something, and one of the things we owe is to face what we have done. In that sense, when it comes to demanding that those who have committed wrongdoing pay that debt, there is nowhere softer on crime than prison. Our criminal justice system at once inflicts harms in ways that are inconsistent with human dignity and safety, and at the same time, is built precisely to excuse people from obligations that do arise from hurting people.