Society is outraged by crime, and rightly so. We cry out for heavier and longer penalties for those who commit crime, and we often complain that a criminal got just a slap on the wrist for his crime.
I spent a lot of time on the job in jails and prisons, and I never found a prison that looked like a country club. One month in jail is still a significant punishment. Five years in prison is almost inhumane... even though it may not be equal to the anguish suffered by the victim of the crime.
I think we need to reconsider our response to crime. We waste too much money and too many human lives in our prisons. And we set people up for further crime if we deny inmates employment and exclude them from society once they are released.
If a person evades punishment for fifty years like some offenders have, they deserve prosecution and punishment. But if they were punished for their crime fifty years ago, the punishment should not continue for a lifetime. Peter Yarrow spent time in jail, and I understand that the conviction was part of the reason why PP&M broke up for a decade. Yarrow paid the price fifty years ago. Continued shunning is not necessary or helpful or just.