I think the punishment should fit the criminal, as opposed to the crime.

Our two current standard punishments - deprivation of liberty (jail) and deprivation of money (fines) are water off a duck's back to some criminals are are not an effective deterrant to others. The wealthy can laugh off fines and the poor simply cannot pay them. Jail can often serve to turn a minor criminal into a major one. Yes, some people should be locked up to keep them away from the public, but in a lot of cases, it leads to a revolving door in-and-out effect.

If deprivation of dignity (a spell in the stocks, or doing mucky community service, or name-and-shame in the papers or whatever) is what would really make a particular crim think again about being a repeat offender, then so be it.

Unfortunately, the death penalty doesn't exactly allow for any reform / rehabilitation after punishment.