Car Burglaries and Consequences

Do stiffer sentences act as adequate deterrence for crime? Texas State Representative Rafael Anchia thinks so. Anchia is the co-author of legislature that increases the severity of the punishment for car burglars. Thomas Korosec reviewed this subject in his article Texas Lawmakers Eye Crackdown on Breaking into cars. Korosec reports that ever since the courts have lightened up on car burglars in the mid-1990s, these crime rates have sky rocketed. Admittedly, so has the number of dope heads looking for some loose change to support their habits. Perhaps drugs are to be blamed. Either way, those people should be behind bars, whether for use of illegal substances or theft. Personally, I believe Texas and the U.S. has become too lenient on most criminals. Criminals will have no incentive to stop breaking into cars if all they get is a whack on the nose and a 90 day sentence in jail. Longer sentences will mean overcrowded jails (as if that wasn't already a problem), so how about changing the quality of their stay so as to make jail one of the last places they would ever want to visit again?