You make good points, and I actually agree with your suggestions. My original concern was not so much about what constitutes a "fair punishment" in this particu

You make good points, and I actually agree with your suggestions. My original concern was not so much about what constitutes a "fair punishment" in this particular case, but about how is this crime is being perceived by our society, and especially how it is perceived by society (i.e. an average American) when compared to some other crimes? I'm more interested in higher level questions: How do we decide on the severity of a crime? Who should decide that?