Parenting & Family Quote by Jim Costa

Policy language rarely admits its own moral triage, but this line does it anyway: punish offenders, protect children, and also - almost as an afterthought in the sentence structure - tend to the people left behind. Costa’s “in addition” is doing political heavy lifting. It presumes a default consensus that punishment and protection are the respectable priorities, then argues that victim support deserves equal billing without challenging the punitive frame that dominates sex-crime politics.

The phrasing is carefully calibrated to survive a soundbite era. “Horrible crimes” is intentionally non-specific, a broad emotional container that avoids legal nuance and invites instant agreement. It also functions as a permission slip: if the crimes are unspeakable, then the state’s response can be expansive. That’s the subtextual bargain offered to audiences who want both toughness and compassion without confronting the tension between them.

The sentence also reveals a common political impulse to focus on children as the symbolic center of victimhood. “Our children” signals communal ownership and shared threat; it’s a rhetorical shortcut to urgency and funding. Yet Costa pivots to “the people who are victims,” widening the lens beyond a single category and implicitly acknowledging how often adult survivors get sidelined in public debates.

Contextually, this fits the late-20th/early-21st century pattern where criminal justice proposals are packaged as comprehensive: enforcement plus services. It’s not radical, but it is strategic. Costa’s intent is to make care sound like common sense - not a competing agenda, just the missing piece of a response already framed as obvious.