PTB.S3.Q14 - Rationale for punishing criminals

LSATcracker-1

If you have done this passage and got Q14 right, would you mind explaining your thought process? The passage says "the second rationale is that a punishment is justified by severity of a crime." This leads me to interpret that the consequence (severity) of the crime matters to punishment. So I was looking at C and E. Can someone who has figured out this question explain where I went wrong? Thank you!

Hafsa Khan

I'm not 100% sure on this one and am looking for a better explanation, but I selected A in BR. I thought the second rational was based on fairness, b/c the passage uses words like "just" and "appropriate" to describe this view. I'm not sure what consequences is supposed to mean though. #Help