England riots: are harsh sentences for offenders justified?

All morality and justice require is that relevantly similar cases are treated the same, not that every case of the same general type is treated identically. No two crimes are completely alike: at most they are very, very similar. So punishment cannot be expected to fit the crime if it only comes in one size and one style, irrespective of who has to wear it, where and when.

Article in today's Guardian G2.