>> but isn't it part of the purpose of criminal punishments to scare away people from committing crimes? The premise: "Harsh punishments are scaring criminals

>> but isn't it part of the purpose of criminal punishments to scare away people from committing crimes? The premise: "Harsh punishments are scaring criminals from commiting crime" must be questioned. I highly doubt it is a valid premise. Just look at crime rates in regions where you have harsh criminal laws up to capital punishment. There is not even a correlation much less a causal relation between "Harsh on Crime" vs. "Low crime rate".