Authoritarians favor harsh punishment and reject lenient penal reform.

Evidence

Right-wing authoritarians are predisposed to control the behavior of others through punishment. They advocate physical punishment in childhood and beyond. They deplore leniency in the courts and believe penal reform just encourages criminals to continue being lawless. They advocate capital punishment. All in all, one finds an “Old Testament harshness” in their approach Anyone could become the target of authoritarian aggression, but unconventional people (including “social deviants”) and conventional victims of aggression (such as certain minority groups) are attacked more readily than others. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 150