Not necessarily—see the last part of my comment. Punishing past crimes often does serve to deter future crime because it provides the general population with evidence that people will get punished for their crimes. This much, I think, is obvious—a nation in which modern law is enforced will beget less violence within its borders (all else being equal) than a pure anarchy would.
Not necessarily—see the last part of my comment. Punishing past crimes often does serve to deter future crime because it provides the general population with evidence that people will get punished for their crimes. This much, I think, is obvious—a nation in which modern law is enforced will beget less violence within its borders (all else being equal) than a pure anarchy would.