Punitive

A lot of what appears to be hypocrisy in comparing how the law treats one person as opposed to another is born of the fact that many people understand the law to be a means by which society punishes bad people, rather a means by which it attempts to discourage bad actions. And to the degree that people make determinations of whether another person is good or bad based on factors other than said person's relationship to the particular law at hand, they appear, if not hypocritical, at least incoherent.