The concept of atonement

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

This seems like a no-brainer to me. Of course a person may "atone" for his or her crime. It would be illogical to declare that once a person has done evil, it is not possible that they might reverse their ideological position and regret their earlier action. You might want to hold them accountable for their earlier crime, demand the payment of some kind of restitution. But it makes no sense to cut-off any avenue of them ever making things right.

This is the "justice" vs. "revenge" thing.

Justice has some utility but revenge has none at all.

I also disagree that revenge has no utility.   Creating the perception that crime results in high probability of revenge deters crime.

Societal benefits aside, the thought that I may eventually get to skin certain people alive with a rusty file helps me sleep.

Boru