Is there a place for binding spells? Sure. Are they a cure-all? Far from it
A binding spell is basically a way of tying up a certain person’s ability to act in a certain way. Yes, there are some ethical questions here, but most craft paths hold that “to let evil go on unchecked is, in itself, evil” or something to that effect.
The real problem with binding is that in order to bind someone/something, the practitioner must attach that person or thing to something within the practitioner’s sphere of influence. By doing so, the practitioner, in effect, binds the person or thing to him/herself. In some situations this is desirable, but the practitioner must really know what they are in for! In most situations, it would be preferable to banish…get the problem out of the sphere of influence entirely so that it will no longer affect the practitioner.
The example of a practitioner using magic to offensively attack someone is a good example of an appropriate time to use a binding spell: the person is causing ill towards innocents. The person who undertakes the binding must be aware then, that the criminal or “dark magician” will be tied to her until the binding is released. Yes, this even holds true for all those folks you stuck in your freezer.
The trickiest part about binding spells is knowing when it’s really appropriate to use one. The next trickiest thing is binding down the right things: say you want to bind a child molester. So you bind down his sexual deviance, and his anger re-emerges as murderous intent. You have to be sure you are binding down the right thing, in this case, the anger.
Binding spells have their place, but like we said, they are tricky. It is my feeling that the practitioner should have a fairly strong background in spell and ritual design before attempting a binding spell, and should write the spell himself specifically for the situation.