Theories of Criminal Punishment

[Drew]

One of the first things we studied in my Criminal Law class were the theories behind punishment. I'll just copy them straight from my outline here. My question is which, if any, do you find most compelling? Any you disagree with totally?

Incapacitation: rendering a person who is otherwise inclined to commit crime harmless to society by separating them from society.

Retribution: intentional infliction of pain and suffering on a criminal to the extent he deserves it because he has willingly committed a crime.

General Deterrence: creating an example of one criminal's pain and suffering so as to put pressure on other potential criminals to consider the negative effects of committing crime.

Specific Deterrence: putting the aforementioned pressure on a released convict so HE won't commit the same crime or any crime at all. (tied with unpleasant memories of their incarceration)

Rehabilitation: emphasizing the acquisition of skills or values which convert a criminal into a law-abiding citizen.

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To quickly start this thing rolling, I believe the Justice System of America (c 1708) was initially built upon the foundation of Rehabilitation (but through the practice more akin to General Deterrence because of the Puritanical forefathers we had establishing a first system of Law and Order and Trial and Punishment).


Nowadays, I just believe that because of the litigious nature of all aspects of society, incarceration and "incapicitation" (through you/they are locked up, therefore you should no longer have an inclination/capacity to commit further crime) are the foremost examples of what is seen throughout the country. (with due respect to the contrary nature(s) of Texas and Florida, who still practice dozens upon dozens of criminal executions on the basis of a combination of Retribution/General Deterrence, in what I would opine as a 80/20 split combo).

I'll try to put my thoughts in order for a future try at a reply, and to further expound on what I actually believe the US is practicing, and what they should actually be doing.

[AYHJA]

Shit man, I don't think any of those are particularly compelling, simply because if there are exceptions, and there most surely will be, they will upset the entire idea...I come from the school of an eye for an eye, which is where all these laws for criminal punishment derive...Shit, our society and all these do gooders have rendered the system useless and a detriment to us all...Nothing can do all of the above except cutting the hand off of a criminal, castrating a rapist, blinding a drunk driver and executing a mudererer...

Our current system allows people to fuck up and fuck up and fuck up with no remorse...There is hardly a more effective teacher than pure, physical pain..If we adopted a system that was built on that, we'd be much better off...Remember Michael Fey..? Took his dumb ass to Singapore and decided to do some petty crime, vandalism or something if I'm not mistaken...Got caned, and that was that...

How likely are you to commit a crime of any kind, when you got a huge, Deebo looking ass dude, whose soul purpose in life is to work out and beat the breaks off law breakers , standing over you in a dark dungeon with an executioners mask on...He will hit you as hard as he can, because if he is suspected of going light, he will get his ass beat...

If you get convicted of a crime falsely, the sentence is not dire...You get 3 strokes...You may have a sore ass, but at least you will live...Maybe you can get a cash settlement for a wrongful conviction...Say, 5 stacks a stroke...But if you should get convicted of a second crime, your previous crime strokes are repeated plus whatever strokes commanded by your current crime...

How effective would drug dealers be if they get blasted by the cane..? You can't sit or stand...Its humiliating, and no matter what they might say, nobody is going to want to get beat withing an inch of their life...They'll find a new hobby...They won't be in jails learning how to become better criminals, and or inflicting pain upon other criminals...Us good taxpayers aren't being whipped, we can spend that money on education or something else useful...

It's the ultimate system...There will be pitfalls, and maybe even a few exceptions...But show a room full of juvenile offenders a video of a man or woman being caned for committing a crime...Let them know that should they be caught again, this will be their fate...Have a multiple offender pull his pants down and show them his ass...Who sees that and says, "Yeah, I think I'll go ahead and keep doing petty crimes," ..?

I can't explain civil rights activists, people who fight for the rights of human beings who do attrocious things to other humans...Too often, the victims pay the lions share of the price...Saw on ESPN the other day where a former lions football player has been convicted of DUI at least 7 times...Killed 3 young boys in a car wreck one of the first times, went on to get several more DUI's after that...Tell me that had he gotten 21 lashes that first time, that he would risk getting 42 lashes for that second time, and 84 lashes that 3rd time...Shit, not even that many...I think Fey got like 4, and described the blood from his ass like "a bloody nose"...Imagine Brock Lessner standing over you with a wet cane about to hit you on the ass...I'm terrified at the thought...

Bet the farm Fey didn't vandalize anything else...