Once it was an honour to serve under the Night's Watch, but in more recent times it has become less of a role that people want and more of a role for people who commit crimes or are "bastards".
In the first series, we discover that Ned Stark is seen to be somewhat governing the Night's Watch (he is seen beheading someone of the Night's Watch for abandoning their post). It is also noted that the North sees the Night's Watch as an important factor, whereas the south, although they recognize it they do not show much regard. Ned Stark is no longer with us, and abandoning their post is no longer happening so this question is probably based on opinions.
Let's skip to the most recent series, we find that:
The north is no longer peaceful and is in utter turmoil, with Ramsey declaring himself the Warden of the North whose only intent on building an army to destroy everyone around him. No other houses are seen to be making a note.
In the latest episode (S6E5) we see that:
Jon Snow has left the the Night's Watch going to fight Ramsey
So the question is:
With what has been going on, what makes the people of the Night's Watch stay? The way that I see things, they could just leave and not face any punishment, at least not for a while anyway. Is the Night's Watch really turning back into a honourable place where everyone wants to stay there? They see it as their right and their duty now, they have seen what has been going on.
You could argue that:
Jon Snow
Would therefore give punishment, but can he? I mean, he's the commander but let's skip back to season 1 where we see Ned Stark carry out the punishment and not the commander.