Patrick F. Fagan and Robert E. Moffit

An individual who engages in habitual criminal activity is referred to as a “hardcore criminal” or “repeat offender.” In the following viewpoint, Patrick F. Fagan and Robert E. Moffit assert that this minority of criminals commit the majority of violent crimes and that more imprisonment is needed to incapacitate them. Pretrial release, probation, parole, and “light sentencing,” according to Fagan and Moffit, often release repeat offenders into communities, resulting in more violent crime and endangering public safety. The authors suggest that these programs be sharply restricted and that prison space be expanded to accommodate more convicts. Fagan is a William H.G. FitzGerald Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, where Moffit is the director of Domestic Policy Issues. The Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit conservative policy think tank.

As...