Meaning of retributionist | Babel Free

Definitions

One who holds that there must be retribution (vengeance, punishment) for transgressions.

Examples

“The retributionist says — I quote from Sir James F. Stephen — ‘The criminal law proceeds upon the principle that it is morally right to hate criminals, and it confirms and justifies that sentiment by inflicting upon criminals punishments which express it.’”

“A lex talionis retributionist would likely maintain that neither the passage of time nor a radical change in the character of the defendant alleviates society's duty to punish the properly convicted. Immanuel Kant captured this notion when he argued that before a civil society could disband, it had to execute the last murderer in its prisons.”

CEFR level