> people who advocate for improved social services also seem to uncannily be opposed to any sort of criminal punishments at all.

I've never once met anyone who felt that way. I'd actually like to have the chance. People might not want criminals tortured, might not want people imprisoned unnecessarily, might not want people arrested for things that should never have been crimes in the first place, but I'm pretty skeptical that there's any substantial number of people who don't want to see serial killers kept away from the public or who feel that all crimes should go unaddressed entirely.