Alan - funnily enough, that was the bit of the argument I edited out...

CP is no deterrent. This is not an argument against it. It merely proves the point that any argument that tries to posit "deterrence" in relation to "justice" is utter bollocks.

Criminals broadly fall into two categories. 1) They commit crimes on the spur of the moment - In which case they're not thinking about potential punishment. 2) They plan their crimes in advance - In which case they don't plan on being caught.

Either way, the deterrent effect of any possible sentence is zero.

As to your remarks about practitioners & abolitionists, I refer you to my previous post - "What does that prove? That your system is f***ed, nothing more, nothing less. Sort your system out..." Their systems are suspect & need to be reviewed. Nothing from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China or Kuwait tells me that CP is wrong, only that the concept of 'justice' is not as rigorous as you or I would want...