The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 6: Mens Rea
Page 3: Innocents

It’s also one of the reasons why our emotions are so much stronger when we see very young children suffering—unlike adults, they simply CANNOT have done anything to deserve it.

Sweet little kid looking up worriedly at a man in a wifebeater holding an empty beer bottle

As we’ll see, these kinds of considerations play out in criminal justice in several ways. Our sense of justice demands that the State only punish people who DESERVE it. 

But what does that mean?