What kind of balance are states seeking in enacting criminal laws?

Generally, states have to balance a number of things in
enacting their criminal laws.

For example, states may need
to balance the rights of their citizens to be secure against the need for the state not
to spend too much money.  If the state were only interested in the first of these
things, it could impose extremely harsh punishments on those who break the law.  Because
the state has to think about money, though, it has an interest in imposing shorter
terms.

Similarly, the state has to find balance between the
security of the public at large and the interests of those who might commit crimes.  A
state that cared only about the first might again impose very harsh sentences.  But the
state has to guard against imposing sentences that are too lengthy because those would
be unjustly harmful to the interests of people who commit
crimes.

At all times, states have to balance between
security and freedom as well.  They have to avoid criminalizing behaviors that are
merely offensive while still making sure that they do not allow behaviors that are truly
dangerous or which create actual problems for society.