In This Selection Bedau First Draws an Analogy Between Self-Defense

In this selection Bedau first draws an analogy between self-defense and the death penalty. Just as in defending ourselves we are to use no more force than is necessary to prevent harm, so in punishing criminals we are to use no more violence than is necessary to adequately punish the criminal. Bedau then argues that neither the deterrence nor the retributive argument for capital punishment is a good argument. He thinks that the literal application of the lex talionis is barbaric and that long-term imprisonment is adequate punishment.
-According to Bedau, an important principle is that unless there is a good reason for choosing a more severe rather than a less severe punishment for a crime,

A) no penalty is justified.
B) the less severe penalty is no more justified than the more severe one.
C) the less severe penalty is to be preferred.
D) all penalties should be minimal.