"Former NPR editor gets no prison time in child porn case" in some part because he had "thrown away a successful career"

The story is here. The judge is taking into account the reputational penalties that this criminal already faces. For many criminals, the reputational portion of the penalty is the greatest penalty that they face. It is the total penalty that should count and judges used to do more of this prior to the sentencing guidelines.

"I say, 'What further pound of flesh is needed to achieve the goal of punishment?'" asked Huvelle.
In explaining the exceptional step of sentencing below the guidelines, the judge said Malakoff had already thrown away a successful career and has to live with the stigma of being a sex offender for most of the rest of his life. But the strongest argument for the lesser sentence, Huvelle said, was that Malakoff had been raped as a 9-year-old boy and he had looked at the child pornography over five hours last year to relive his own rape.