Van Dyke sentence just and merciful

Since I haven't seen a single media comment that the 81 month sentence given James Van Dyke for second degree murder of Laquan McDonald was just and merciful, I'll offer mine. Van Dyke doesn't qualify for the most important reason for incarceration: protecting the public. No longer a police officer and with no previous criminal history, his threat to the public has been removed. As a police officer he was a threat, regardless of the fact he'd never previously fired his gun in 17 years on the force.  The other aims of incarceration: punishment, deterrence and justice are all met with an 81 month sentence. 

Punishment? Van Dyke has been punished every day since his still unexplained deviation from responsible use of deadly force over four years ago, and will be punished every remaining day of his life regardless of where he spends it.

Deterrence? Will any police officer view Van Dyke's four year saga leading to 81 months in prison and conclude it's OK to replicate his behavior? No chance in my view.

Justice for McDonald's family  is the tough one. I can't speak for them. But I don't think the length of sentence is the determining factor in what constitutes justice. The critical factor in dispensing justice is holding McDonald's perpetrator to answer for his crimes in court. His conviction and incarceration represent the essence of justice. The length of sentence may satisfy some; maybe none. There is no way to determine that number with any measure of precision.

I always opt for least possible jail time, if not home confinement or none at all for the convicted, regardless of the crime. With 2,300,000 languishing in jail, the highest number and highest rate per 100,000 in the world, America's criminal justice system is a worldwide disgrace. Something is terribly askew when we have just 4.4% of the world's population but warehouse 22% of the world's prisoners. In addition, the annual cost is over a trillion dollars just for incarceration. If jail time could be reduced just 25% nationwide, an additional $250 billion would be freed up for better governance in education, health care, infrastructure and crime prevention, Including prisoner rehabilitation. That is value excessive incarceration can never provide. 

Long sentences when not required are a knee-jerk response to crime...'lock em up and throw away the key'. The US is the only developed country that practices that costly, foolish approach. We need to move away from long sentences as the primary response in creating a just and merciful criminal justice system. The Van Dyke judge did just that in imposing an 81 month sentence. He should not have his sentence reviewed as being too lenient. He should have his sentence studied as an example of ignoring the rush to excessive incarceration; opting instead for both justice and mercy.