How much of the deterent-to-future-insurrectionist-insider value has already been lost?

Our justice system isn't here primarily to enact revenge. As satisfying as it might be to see bad people pay for their crimes (and I'm not so high-minded that I'd pretend I don't wish for that), that's the least important reason for a justice system to mete out punishment.

The most important purposes of judicially-imposed punishments are deterrence of future crime, and preventing criminals from committing more crimes.

So where are we now with effective justice for the events of 1/6, and all of the associated coup plotting leading up to that day?

Potential future street rabble might be deterred a bit by now, or some of the marginally brighter "patriots" might at least have learned to cover their faces better and not post self-incriminating evidence on social media.

But the powerful and connected people who would plot against our democracy, the future equivalents to Trump and his cronies, if not Trump and the original cronies themselves?

What they are learning is, no matter how brazen their assaults on this country, if they meet the not-so-demanding standard of being at least as smart as Trump, they'll get at least a good two-three years to keep plotting, keep undermining, keep cashing in, keep waiting for favorable changes of administrations and judges and legislatures, during which they can either pick up their insurrection yet again, or at least wiggle out of serious consequences.

They can see that lots of free time will be provided to them before possibly facing any music.

If they are on the older side, they can reasonably figure either death or becoming unfit to stand trial will claim them before any actual trial might occur.

No one is going to come down on them like a ton of bricks for attempting to overthrow the government, that's for sure.

They most definitely will not be treated as an imminent threat. That standard of treatment is reserved for more directly physical crimes, like murder, rape, and robbery. Or, say, driving while black.

My problem with this? No, it's not as some apologists for our "justice" system might have it that I think mob mentality should prevail, that all safeguards of the legal system should be bypassed, or anything like that.

It's that I see the coup plotters as an imminent threat, which should be treated as such. Not only are they a threat to the perhaps intangible ideas of "freedom" and "democracy", but just like bank robbers and serial killers, they are actual threats to property and life. And they should be treated as such.