I think that Western societies are deeply confused about crime and punishment.

On balance it's probably a good thing that the death penalty has been abolished - but mainly because, when it existed, there were far too many miscarriages of justice, and far too many innocent people went to the gallows; and poor people were more likely to be hung than rich people.

It also appears to me that appeasement of wrong-doers is endemic to our societies - we care far too much about the 'rights' of criminals and far too little about the rights of the victims of crime. On the international stage this is mainly to do with the machinations and self-interest of power elites but more parochially appears to be related to something that I call 'competitive piety'. Many people, who claim to be moralists (as a result of religious and secular ideologies) have latched on to the theory that criminal behaviour is more to do with nurture than nature and compete with each other to see who cares the most about the 'rights' of criminals (from 'broken homes'): "I care more than you do!". "No! I care more!". This isn't helpful.

I think that the rights of the victims of crime should be central to any truly 'just' justice system. Victims should be given the chance to confront the person who has wronged them (under controlled conditions, of course) and should have some say in how the wrong-doer is punished.