Well, I guess this is getting pretty off topic, but I'll go ahead anyway...
The thing is the point of the system isn't (or shouldn't be) so much "punishment" for the sake of punishment, but fixing damage where fixable and try to help people turn their life around. The effectiveness of a justice system (or prison system or whatever it's called on the whole) doesn't correlate with the harshness of sentences - quite the opposite actually.
I get your point and how it sometimes feels that people are getting off 'too easy', but I've also seen a young man who was in danger of getting into a prison cycle completely turn his life around after he got into a facility which was more designed for helping and rehibilating criminals rather than "punishing" them. His life was at a point where it was relief to everyone he went into prison, at least then you could know he was in relative safety. Had his last sentence been in a regular prison, I doubt he would've been able to turn his life around - that's the kind of environment that even if you want to change, it has a tendency to kill that off before you get to the first step.
Many people would probably feel he had it "too easy", but at least his parents, grand parents, sister, brother, son etc. got their beloved family member back after having some dark and painful years for everyone.
Of course there are also those dangerous people who plain and simple should be kept locked away for the safety of others. Sometimes the damage is just too deep or there never was a complete person there to begin with. Or they simply don't want help. But the more the people who really accept help can be helped, the better, and that doesn't happen by trying to satisfy the need for revenge in people.
