Incapacitation
The term incapacitation refers to the act of making an individual “incapable” of committing any particular crime, historically by the execution or the banishment, and in more recent times it is done by execution or infliction of lengthy periods of incarceration. Most examples of incapacitation have been found to involve offenders who have the history of committing repeated crimes (multiple recidivists) under the sections known as habitual offender statutes, that come ahead to permit longer-than-normal sentences for a given offense. Incapacitation is also utilized, for instance, in the cases that involve offenders who are deemed to be dangerous (like those guilty of murder) and those who are likely to commit violent and grave crimes unless restrained. Considering the difficulty of identifying such offenders with certainty, the principle of incapacitation is quite controversial. It has often been difficult to reconcile with other principles, specially the principles which advocate equal retribution.