1a. God is merciful and humans should follow him through his teachings.

God requires the criminal

to acknowledge the crime they have committed and take responsibility for it, and only then shall
they receive mercy. Additionally, during the celebration of Yom Kippur, Jewish people believe that
God will grant forgiveness to those who have asked sincerely.
 
1b. Jews are against crime as they believe that it breaks the laws that have been imposed by God.
They try to remove the causes of criminality by raising their children to obey the law, which reduces
the likelihood that these children will commit crime.
 
Furthermore, Jews try to stop criminals from reoffending through rabbis visiting prisons and Jewish
Care helping released prisoners, thereby they are less likely to reoffend as they have been given
support to rebuild their lives.
 
1c. Jews believe that justice rewards the good and punishing the bad. This is important for Jews as in
the Torah states that "God is the rock" suggesting that God possesses a just character and can be an
example to follow from.
 
Furthermore, justice is important for the victims of crime as this shows that their suffering has been
acknowledged by society and the criminal has punished proportionally. This is shown in the book of
Leviticus, by the quote, "an eye for an eye" which suggests that the crime committed should be
proportional to the punishment given to the offender.
 
1d. The Torah can be interpreted to give support to retribution. This is shown in Exodus 21:12
"Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. Corporal and capital
punishment may be viewed as retribution for the suffering caused. Furthermore, the death penalty
is also justified in the Torah on the grounds of deterrence; by giving the death penalty, the severity
of the punishment will deter society meaning to prevent crime from occurring again (Deuteronomy
17:7). However, on the basis that even the most conservative of Jewish denominations will reject
some of the Torah' s pronouncements on punishment (e.g. corporal/capital punishments for
adultery etc, contemporary Jews will generally avoid justifying punishment in terms of retribution.
 
The majority of Reform Jews do not believe that retribution is acceptable as they believe that it goes
against the commandment "You shall not murder". There is also insufficient evidence to claim that
the death penalty serves as a deterrent. Instead they would urge that reform should be the main aim
of punishment, as this would satisfy their belief in the sanctity of life, the view that life is holy and
sacred and belongs to God, and therefore only God should have the power to take life, this is derived
from Genesis 1.27 "made in God's image". as by reforming the criminal they are showing respect for
the value of the individual rather than seeking to make them suffer. Reform teaching son repairing
the world, or 'tikkun olam', would also promote reform, as by changing the behaviour of the
criminal, it is much less probable that the criminal will commit further harm.
 
Jewish support for protection, can be found in Maimonides' 'A guide for the perplexed' , where he
discusses the need for a person who unintentionally killed another to seek refuge in a neighbouring
city to help reduce the desire for blood and revenge (retribution). Here the emphasis is on
protection in this case, protection of the accused.

In conclusion, I partially agree with this statement as by protecting protection ensures that the
offender can cause no more harm to society