I do not disagree with anything you have posted...my one concern...

I do not disagree with anything you have posted...my one concern however is that sometimes, laws designed by those more learned than us, to govern society for the "greater good", often ignore the plight of the individual...in this case, the victim.

Perhaps I should clarify my position.

I do not advocate an eye-for-an-eye form of punishment...rather, I support punishment that befits the crime!

I would also like to see greater victim participation in determining the overall level and type of punishment being applied...but only if the victims so desire.

Perhaps we could introduce a system which applys "special conditions" to the common forms of custodial punishment currently in use? These "special conditions" could be prepared within a general punishment framework...and via the judicial system, be assigned by the victims themselves.

I see this being arranged as a sort of adjunct to the sentencing process, with victims participating in a kind of mediation process with a legal representative. If handled correctly, it would in effect become a form of counciling for the victims.

The idea is not specifically to "punish" the criminals, but to give "power" back to the victims.

Quiet a lot of this I'm in absolute agreement.
But there are terms which are so hard to define, T4, such "punishmanet that befits the crime." If only we knew what that is, how to get to it so that we all feel that Justice has been served. But, alas, we are human and, always, but always, our own private loss is greater than the loss sustained by others -that's why I said that I'd rather not be involved in the application of justice, since I would be very much a biased member of that.
I don't know, I really don't know how to placate the grief and anger of the living victims, or even of those close to the victim of other crimes: drunken crashes etc.
But I'm not sure whether it's power they want and if power can be given to anyone in any way. A death is a death. There's no power loss nor will there be a power gained by a further loss of life. If there will be a sense of victory when the death sentence is given to the rapist or the murderer then, I suggest, that victory would still be a hollow one and the victims will still feel the grief and pain for a very long time. Nothing but a bloody strong psyche and perhaps the lengthy passage of time could dissipate that.
If we were made to believe that the death sentence will help then that's what we'll be looking for. If we were made to believe that that is a useless and barbaric exercise then perhaps we wouldn't be asking for it; and if the country is set up in such a way that such things never occurred then we would be appalled maximally by state approved murder.
But it is a bloody hard ask for a parent of a child to sit back and not ask for the absolute maximum of punishment; even grievous torture, ala Aby Ghraib!