Some examples of retributive justice would include a person who is sentenced to 30 years in jail for rape, or a person who is found guilty and must pay a fine, compensatory damages, lawyer fees and a fixed award to a plaintiff for his actions, according to the Cornell Law Review and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retributive justice occurs when the crime and the punishments are controlled by a criminal justice system and the offender is punished with a proportionate punishment, as stated in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and by the Conflict Solutions Center.
Retributive justice, says the Conflict Solutions Center, is focused on viewing the individual as personally accountable and responsible for his or her crimes. There is no involvement with the community as there is in restorative justice. In retributive justice, it is believed that punishment and the resulting pain from that punishment is an effective way of prohibiting and discouraging people from committing crimes.
Retributive justice is also committed to the idea that it is "intrinsically morally good," as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy points out, to give a person who has punished others a proportionate punishment, which the person deserves. The retributive justice system also believes that it is imperative not to punish people disproportionately to the crime or to punish people that are innocent.
