The crime to which he had entered a guilty plea was far from gentle: drunk one night at a bar, he had physically - not sexually - assaulted two women, knocking them down and kicking one of them.

The women, whose injuries were serious, had, as is the New Zealand norm, submitted a victim impact statement mentioning trauma and ongoing fear. The defendant was there for sentencing before District Judge Bill Hastings, who hears cases in different cities on different days, a custom designed to protect impartiality.

As a visiting faculty member for two weeks in Wellington, I had met Bill through mutual friends and he had invited me to sit on the bench with him. Not surprisingly, I experienced the day as an American worried about our own retributive system of criminal justice, and I learned a great deal that reflects on our current American debates.

Read more at ABC Religion and Ethics