Abstract arguments about crime and punishment typically focus on single, isolated offenses. But a key question for any criminal justice system is how to treat people who come before courts for their second, third, fourth, fifth time and beyond? The prevalence of these cases is one of the reasons that police, prosecutors, and judges often do not consider the system as harsh as it appears to outsiders. In their experience, many of the folks who get locked up received multiple chances to avoid incarceration.