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