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104. Patrick Devlin, the eminent jurist and judge, in his book, "The Judge" emphasises the retributive aspect of the purpose of punishment and criminal justice, thus:

I affirm that justice means retribution and nothing else. Vindictiveness is the emotional out flow of retribution and justice has no concern with that. But it is concerned with the measurement of deserts. The point was put lucidly and simply by the Vicar of Longton in a letter to The Times, from which with his permission I quote; Firstly, far from pretending that retribution should have no place in our penal system, Mr. Levin should recognize that it is logically impossible to remove it. If it were removed, all punishments should be rendered unjust. What could be more immoral than to inflict imprisonment on a criminal for the sake of deterring others, if he does not deserve ft? Or would it be justified to subject him to a compulsory attempt to reform which includes a denial of liberty unless, again he deserves it?