But this scheme sometimes deceives us; there are cases in which social regulation includes in fact both sides, although practical interest only focuses attention on one side and overlooks the other. Wherever, for example, the private punishment of a crime has been transferred to society and objective criminal law, one only takes into account, as a rule, that thereby one acquires greater certainty in retribution, that is, a sufficient degree and certitude in its application. But, in reality, the goal pursued is not only to punish enough, but also not to punish too much. Society not only protects the person who has suffered damage, but also the criminal against the excess of subjective reaction; that is to say, society establishes as an objective measure of punishment that which corresponds to its social interest and not to the desires or interests of the victim.

DEFINE: Clarifies that social regulation of crime serves a dual function — both guaranteeing retribution and capping it — though the limiting function is usually overlooked.

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 431