Many of them are kids (OR were for sure a kid when they joined the gang)that despite their bad decisions would still like to be somewhere later in life.
Sounds like an argument for prioritizing rehabilitation over incarceration.
"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea
