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  "path": "/2026/03/11/in-missouri-crime-debate-certainty-of-punishment-matters-more-than-severity/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-11T10:55:57.000Z",
  "site": "https://missouriindependent.com",
  "tags": [
    "Commentary",
    "criminal justice",
    "police",
    "police reform"
  ],
  "textContent": "Recent murders in Kansas City and St. Louis — one at a nightclub, the other at a coffeeshop — have people asking why the assailants, both with histories of violent crime, were out on the streets in the first place. When violence strikes, anger is natural. It often translates into demands for harsher sentences. The […]",
  "title": "In Missouri crime debate, certainty of punishment matters more than severity"
}