thanks jacqui.c - for me it's a balance of equality in that the law-breakers, who indeed have done horrible things, have equality as much as the victims of crime. Difficult but in most cases the lawbreakers suffer inequality in society eg. usa where the vast majority are black, native american, middle eastern, islander or hispanic. same in australia where indigenous are 2% of the population as a whole but 25% of the prison population and where once again asian, middle eastern, islander and indigenous are the vast majority of the population. the law has a beauty when it works in that it has balance and equality - and justice for all. I guess I really love the idea of justice rather than retribution - difficulty is that there is no policies anywhere in the world for rehabilitation per se. no-one is obliged to rehabilitate only seek retribution. It is important to me that justice serves in equal parts the victim and the lawbreaker. there is peace in that. the 'reasons' I guess for bad behaviour or ultimately excuses for something that justice says cannot be tolerated, and really, the lawbreaker knows that. However often enough in my experience, the victim wants retribution which is perfectly understandable but historically has been the reasoning behind such things as lynch mobs. Prison I suppose one could say supports an equality of justice for all as much as it can oppress and discriminate. It's difficult to balance a concept of a 'perfect world' with the practical and pragmatic day to day considerations of life and survival. I am going on a bit aren't I? Sorry.