I don't know about banishment, but we do need some harsher penalties. Other countries have low crime rates when they have harsh penalties. Yeah, there will be uproar from the ACLU and other activist groups, but they'll soon calm down when these punishments are no longer necessary.

The constitution prevents "cruel and unusual" punishment. This will make it hard to get a new penalty started. However, once it becomes the standard, it will no longer be cruel and unusual. It will be cruel and usual, which is not protected against in the constitution.

I'm agains torture as a means of extracting information from someone who may or may not know it with no reason to suspect he's invovled in a crime and no charges filed. However, if a person has been found guilty by a jury of his peers beyond a reasonable doubt, I see no reason why certain forms of torture cannot be his punishment. It makes no sense to just hold him in a building and keep him entertained there for a few years while I pay for it with my tax dollars only to have him come out and offend again. I bet you dollars to donuts, if he's tortured as his punishment, he won't offend again.

So, in conclusion, I'm not for banishment as a form of punishment because I don't know how well it would work, but I'm for torture and other forms of cruel punishment.