Ethical Respones to Unethical Behavior?

Both on my blog and in my Philosophy classes (particularly the Ethics class), I have thought about Ethics and Politics, and I've wondered what God's stance is on all of this. I understand that people should behave ethically, and were God a U.S. citizen, He'd probably promote laws that promote ethical behavior, but how would those laws promote ethical behavior, or rather, what should we do about those who behave unethically? My philosophy, in most cases, is "live and let live," but when one person hurts another person, there has to be some kind of punishment, right?

I'm not completely sure. What is the purpose of punishment? Deterrence? By the time there's someone to punish, it's too late to deter them. I suppose you could punish one person as an example (and a deterrence) to others, but is that really fair? Those who promote punishment sometimes do so in the name of justice, but is it really our place to judge? Who are we to decide what sort of punishment is fair?

I am comforted by the fact that everything that is unfair about life will be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Still, we should strive for fairness, especially in our justice system. Letting people off the hook isn't a wise move for society, and over-punishing someone isn't any better. I believe that we should try to make the punishment match the crime, but how can we determine what sort of punishment matches each crime?

Essentially, I'd like to know what God thinks of earthly laws punishing unethical behavior. Does He condone mortal punishment or does He think that we should stop judging people's behavior an penalizing them for it? Which unethical decisions are bad enough to warrant punishment (e.g. murder), and which ones are light enough to let slide (e.g. swearing)? How should we decide which punishments to impose on which actions?

As God-fearing voters, we should attempt to determine how God would like us to vote. Essentially, this means that we should attempt to discover the will of God for those who behave unethically and those who interact with them. Does God want us to punish evil-doers? Probably. But how He wants us to punish evil-doers is less clear. This will probably require a lot of soul-searching and an attempt to bring my will into harmony with God's. Perhaps, when my will more closely aligns with His, I will have a better idea what He would want us to do regarding those who behave unethically.