Would the Scarlett letter theory work to lower crime rates?

well for the child people, they don't leave their computers much so it wouldn't deter them much. people who murder 3 people probably go to jail for life. as much as i like the idea, in our society it probably wouldn't do much. i mean people commit crimes knowing full well what the legal penalties are and no matter how severe they are (i.e. death) they don't seem to hesitate to commit these heinous crimes. as for the tattoo part, would the tattoo ever be removed? if not, i really wouldn't want to still have a tattoo that says "i drank underage" when i'm 50.