It is a lot more important than just deterring similar acts. A failure to punish after having made a commitment to punish removes a big part of the deterrent effectiveness of all kinds of punishment for all kinds of ‘bad things’. For that matter, it may decrease trust that the government/society will keep its other commitments—pension obligations, for example.
There’s also the TDT idea that people who did evil things should be punished.
yeah, punishing agents for doing ‘bad things’ as a deterrence against other agents acting similarly is quite rational.
It is a lot more important than just deterring similar acts. A failure to punish after having made a commitment to punish removes a big part of the deterrent effectiveness of all kinds of punishment for all kinds of ‘bad things’. For that matter, it may decrease trust that the government/society will keep its other commitments—pension obligations, for example.