I've never liked the urge to want to inflict harm upon people in ways that are heinous and then dehumanize them to justify such things. I get it, there are some sick individuals (this is going beyond Bauer) that need to be removed from society, and people need to reap what they sow but as someone who has been sexually victimized when they were younger, I've come to view these types of things from a completely different perspective. One thing I've learned about life is that hurt people hurt people. Read that again. Hurt people, hurt people.
Now I never raped anyone, touched a kid, or masturbated in public or any s*** like that but my early childhood trauma lead me down a path of many bad drug addictions and led to infidelity that destroyed many of my relationships, and so on and on. I never try to justify my actions when I was sick but I do try to understand them so I can heal. When I see someone like Bauer I see an *******...But I also see someone that was probably hurt in many ways as a child, or in some way was a victim of some kind of abuse. I see someone just like me...except perhaps he fell a little bit further than I ever did; my traumas never manifested into being an adult man who sexually abuses people, but I've had my own vices.
I don't know if Bauer is really sorry, so I don't know if he truly deserves a second chance, I want to know if he's given himself a second chance. Maybe he just wants to say the right things and get some money. All I know is people are very good at pretending they are remorseful without making ANY changes, but at the same time, they are capable of a change of heart. At first glance, it's impossible to tell them apart sometimes.
If you really cared about the victims, you wouldn't seek revenge, you would seek to build a world that creates fewer victims and that starts by addressing the vast mental health problems in this country.