> They will have to live with what they've done for the rest of their lives.

>they will be constantly haunted by their memories of the terrible deed they committed.

With all due respect (I love the way you can put that in front of a sentence to pretend you're not being blatantly insulting), you're a moron. How the heck do *you* know they'll be haunted forever? Because it would happen that way in a Disney movie?

Yes, I do believe that anybody can change. But I also believe that anybody who sets out to do something horrible on purpose is unlikely to be haunted by the knowledge that they did something horrible on purpose. If so, they wouldn't have done it in the first place.

I further believe that genuine heartfelt remorse for one's deeds is not a reason to be excused from the legal consequences of them.