Let the punishment fit the crime

Imagine you are playing with your friend and accidentally break their toy. Your friend feels upset and wants you to fix or replace the toy. That is fair punishment, because you made a mistake and you have to make it right.

The idea of "letting the punishment fit the crime" is similar. It means that if someone does something wrong or bad, they should receive a punishment that is equal to how bad their action was. For example, if someone steals a candy from a store, they should pay for the candy and apologize, but they shouldn't go to jail for years because that would be too severe.

It's like a balance scale, where the punishment has to match the severity of the wrongdoing. If the punishment is too light, then the person may not learn their lesson and might do the same wrong thing again. If the punishment is too harsh, then it could be unfair and cruel for the person and may not help them learn from their mistake.

So, "let the punishment fit the crime" means giving a punishment that matches how bad the action was, so it is fair for everyone involved.