Criminals Not Necessarily Responsible?

By rejecting human free will, many psychiatrists argued that responsibility as it had be traditionally conceived was misguided.  However, they generally argued that society had a right to protect itself against morally "aberrant" individuals, so they were not necessarily advocating reduced penalties for criminals.  However, they thought penalties should be determined on the basis of the threat of the individual to society, not based on the particular crime.  The medicalization of criminal justice could sometimes result in longer sentencing, but for "medical" reasons, not retributive justice.

Richard Weikart, From Darwin to Hitler, p.41