First, in a modern democracy, punishment must be not only retributive, but should also try to rehabilitate the criminal in order to enable him to live in society with other human beings. But, while this is a compelling argument, those who know modern prisons recognize that many inmates are not susceptible to improvement – a fact that cannot be attributed only to conditions of detention.
死刑废除派也提出了两条道德理由作为回应。首先，在现代社会里，刑罚的目的不仅是为了渊渊相报，也是为了让犯人改过自新，使他们能够在社会中与他人和谐相处。尽管这个理由非常充分，但对现代监狱有了解的人却认定很多犯人并不那么容易悔过，他们这样的态度很难全部归咎于现有的关押条件。