The idea
Prison sentences sometimes seem like a farce – we hear that some violent criminal has received a sentence of say 6 years, 20 years – but often he / she will serve nothing like that time, but we the public have no information to know otherwise.
Prison sentences should be clearer and transparent to all – if somebody receives 6 years, then that mean it is the shortest sentence he should receive. If he can be let out in 3 years or whatever with parole – then the shortest time he will serve should be the stated sentence – e.g. 3 years – so we all know exactly what sort of justice he / she has received.
Why is it important?
To show that the innocent and law-abiding in our society matter.
Too often terrible crimes are committed, the victims lives torn apart -plus the sentences handed down are sometimes widely seen by the public to be farcial – - and we later find out they don't even spend the stated time behind bars!
None of us can be sure how much time of the stated time any criminal will be locked away for, no matter what the sentence handed down is – and this is unfair to the rest of us, and especially their victims.