That's only an advantage if the expected cost to society of keeping him in prison is less than the expected cost (broadly construed) to society of him keeping on robbing.
The relevant part: "look at it from an average-middle-class-dude or a suburban-soccer-mom point of view".
They do have political power and they don't do expected-cost-to-society calculations.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.