...Luis Aguilar 9/3/09 Per. 2 Position paper Punishment vs. Reform What are judges in the courtrooms actually doing with punishment? Are they punishing people to punish them or to reform law-breakers? Many judges punish law-breakers because they deserve the punishment. They use retribution, vengeance, deterrence, and protection. Judges, now in days, can choose between punishment and reform. Many people think that reform is the right way to go because reform tries to change the offender’s character so that he will not break the law again. Other people think that law-breakers should be punished to a certain extent according to the crime they commit, and they also should be punished because they deserve punishment. I think the penalties for breaking the law of a society should be designed to reform law-breakers for a couple of reasons. I think that reform will help law-breakers with any problems they have. I also think that reform will keep criminals from committing g a crime again. Many would argue that the penalties for breaking the laws of a society be designed to punish law-breakers. Many say that a law-breaker should be punished because they deserve it, which is also known as retribution. There is a saying that states if you do the crime you do the time. Judges also say that the crime they commit is one hundred percent preventable. This is the reason why judges say the law-breaker should be punished because they deserve it. Many would also use deterrence as an excuse to...
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...The modern criminal justice system has evolved since ancient times, with new forms of punishment, added rights for offenders and victims, and policing reforms. These developments have reflected changing customs, political ideals, and economic conditions. In ancient times through the Middle Ages, exile was a common form of punishment. During the Middle Ages, payment to the victim (or the victim's family), known as wergild, was another common punishment, including for violent crimes. For those who could not afford to buy their way out of punishment, harsh penalties included various forms of corporal punishment. These included mutilation, branding, and flogging, as well as execution. Though a prison, Le Stinche, existed as early as the 14th century in Florence, Italy,[18] incarceration was not widely used until the 19th century. Correctional reform in the United States was first initiated by William Penn, towards the end of the 17th century. For a time, Pennsylvania's criminal code was revised to forbid torture and other forms of cruel punishment, with jails and prisons replacing corporal punishment. These reforms were reverted, upon Penn's death in 1718. Under pressure from a group of Quakers, these reforms were revived in Pennsylvania toward the end of the 18th century, and led to a marked drop in Pennsylvania's crime rate. Patrick Colquhoun, Henry Fielding and others led significant reforms during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[19] [edit] Modern policeThe...
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...Define and discuss the classical school of criminology? In particular, address the contributions of Beccaria and Bentham to the debate about punishment and the impact of these contributions in modern corrections? Jennifer Summers Student Number: s2888608 Course: 2007CCJ Course Convenor: Dr John Rynne Course Tutor: Lisa Thomsen Due Date: 4th April 2014 Date Submitted: 4th April 2014 Criminological theories research and investigate a number of social and individual issues pertaining to the causes of crime, law and punishment. Classical criminology refers to a period of time known as the Enlightenment during the 18th century. The classical school was body of ideas with regards to the restructure and reform of punishment in the 18th century (Hyland, Gomez & Greensides, 2003) by a group of European philosophers and scholars, including Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. These two classical thinkers were at the forefront of criminal law and penal reform. This essay seeks to explore the role that Beccaria and Bentham had in the debate about punishment in their time and how their contributions have impacted modern corrections. To understand the contributions that Beccaria and Bentham made to classical criminology, it is fundamental to understand about the social conditions that existed when they were writing. The classical thinkers were rebelling against an arbitrary and corrupt system of law, in which the judges held and absolute and tyrannical power over those...
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...starting from the late 1700’s up until now our system continues to redefine itself based on the needs of society. I will explore the evolution of punishment, prison system and how prison labor impacts over time. Punishment can be defined as the correctional goal with emphasis on inflicting pain or suffering. (Seiter, 2011) Punishment is used as a form of social control, it is viewed, that, a person will refrain from wrongdoing if the consequences impact their freedom. Since the ancient times of the Code of Hammarbi, banishment, and beheading punishment has been a part of how our culture deals with offenders. We can trace back punishment to the colonial days where punishment was based on community opinion and punishment was publicly displayed to ridicule and deter others from such behavior. This type of punishment started to transform into a more organized structure because of enlightened political philosophy, a more humane approach was sought. Incarceration became the vehicle in which the American justice system dealt with deviant behavior. Sir Alex Patterson once said, “You cannot train a man for freedom under the conditions of captivity”. The first prisons in the free United States were recognized as penitentiaries to signify their prisoners as religious sinners serving time for their transgressions. (The Howard league for penal reform, 2014) Early penitentiaries grew national and international attention for their high aspirations of improving...
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...decision on the states to make their laws on the issue of capital punishment. Now advocates are trying to make new laws to end the autocracy and 35 states including Florida they enact the new laws of death penalty. Death penalty was imposed by Supreme Court in 1976 with some reforms which were come from all the states. They provide some guidelines for judge & jury on which behalf death penalty should impose. The guidelines were accepted in 1976 by supreme court in in Gregg v. Georgia (428 U.S. 153), Jurek v. Texas (428 U.S. 262), and Proffitt v. Florida (428 U.S. 242) and commonly this decision is known as Gregg decision. This death penalty decision is imposed or we can say reinstated first on Florida, Georgia & Texas. It came under the 8th amendments of the constitution. Under these reforms there were three procedures which is going to follow every time when someone came under death penalty. First bifurcated trials happened in which there is separate comment for the guilt and number of phases of the trial. Then after it second one is to see whether the crime require death penalty or lesser punishment. Last reform is to review convictions and punishment made. These procedural reforms will helps to states to eliminate the death penalty cases. Due to these reforms which force to Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty in 1976 after a 4 year hiatus. It is not used as deterrent by the states but as a punishment but mostly it is very rare to have executions to any of the criminal...
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...J. Clark English 101-8 September 15, 2014 And Justice for All Punishment stems from our parents, our mom or dad or maybe even both, and their learnings stem from their parents. They would lecture, about the rights and wrongs. So when a child grows up, maybe steals a pack of gum at age five, something petty, they get away with it, get a thrill because they were never caught. That small, minor theft turns into something a little larger over time, each time as they grow. That frivolous pack of gum has grown into a larger larceny, maybe grand theft, or robbing a bank, eventually leading to murder, this is known as ‘the progressive effect’. Most of us have a moral compass, so what should happen if that compass breaks? What is the purpose of punishment? The fundamental principal of justice is that the punishment should fit the crime. When one plans and brutally rapes or murders another, doesn’t it make sense that the punishment for the culprit be equal to their crime? I believe in capital punishment, it is beneficial for society as a whole. Capital punishment provides a strong deterrence against future crimes. Capital punishment protects the rights of victims and saves costs of tax payers. The death penalty is a legal appropriate measure in the U.S. legal system. In a perfect world, there would be no serious predatory crime, none enough to have heated debates concerning capital punishment anyway. But this world is not perfect, and unfortunately we do have...
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...Sentencing Paper Tushar Vincent Botlero 12 March 2012 CJ/A-234 Melissa Andrewjeski Sentencing Paper Punishment has been a subject of deliberate among philosophers, political leaders, and lawyers for centuries. Various theories of punishment have been developed, each of which attempts to justify the practice in some form and to state its proper objectives. The quantity and severity of punishments were reduced, the prison system have been improved. According to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, Maryland, some of the major reasons for punishment are to reform, deterrence, rehabilitation, compensation, and retribution. Punishment for reform is intended to benefit the offender and society by changing the offender into a contributor to society. Punishment as deterrence is intended to benefit society by discouraging would-be offenders. Punishment to extract compensation is intended to benefit the victim of the offender. Finally, retribution is the only object for punishment that is primarily intended to harm the offender. Individuals are in prison because they broke the rules and would have to serve their time. Some go to federal prison and some go to state prisons. It depends on the type of crime that a person commits because these prisons harbor different types of criminals they also have different guidelines to follow in terms to punishing the inmates. Criminal offenders who benefit from prevention services and are at risk of committing...
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...In the mid-nineteenth century, imprisonment was used as punishment for serious crimes, but legislatures wouldn't agree to finance criminal institutions, which caused for the managers of these institutions to create a more acceptable environment in such industries. Employment rates for prisoners declined, and because they didn't have the necessary funds, prisons began to fall apart. Prisons were instructed to rehabilitate inmates instead of just holding them as prisoners, and new prisons were called "reformatories" or "correctional facilities" for this reason. Eventually, prisons were just places for as many prisoners to be held possible. Because there were so many prisoners, it was chaotic, and guards had to use torture to keep them in line. Dorothea Dix was an extremely influential reformer of the 1800s. Her work led to prison reform and improved treatment of the insane. In 1843 Dix sent the following report to the Massachusetts legislature: “If I inflict pain upon you, and move you to horror, it is to acquaint you with the sufferings which you have the power to alleviate (cure), and to make you hasten to the relief of the victims of legalized barbarity.” Another reformer of the 1800s was Eliza Farnham. She was appointed prison matron of Sing Sing Prison in 1844. She believed strongly in prison reform, but faced a lot of obstacles. Previously, Sing Sing Prison had been the quintessential scary "House of Fear" under several wardens, most notably Elam Lynds. A new board of inspectors...
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...American Penal continued to be observed up to today. A lot had changed in the US Penal system as compared to what it was in the early years when this practice was being practiced for the first time. “When America was being colonized by the British, the slaves who were brought in the form of prisoners and laborers were shipped in America using the Atlantic Ocean (Rothman 76)”. It became the first major method of imprisoning and it evolved to later being known as the prisoner trade. This was around the 1660s onwards, and thousands of people were moved to America by the English forces. During this time, the jails that were built were not purposely meant to imprison people but to detain them. “The most common modes of punishment during this era was caning and punishments such as hard labor or even sometimes paying fines for those people who were found to have done criminal activities (Skotnicki 78)”. There are similarities and differences between the American...
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...Rehabilitation Stefanie Dean CJS/230 May 26, 2013 Martin Grill Rehabilitation Although many individuals consider rehabilitation as a form of humane punishment for criminal offenders, it is actually a means of therapy rather than punishment. The objective of rehabilitation is to reform the offender so that he or she can return to the free world with the ability to lead a productive life free of crime. The rehabilitative ideal views criminal behavior as similar to a disease which should be treated with the scientific methods available in order to “cure” the offender. Many criminals suffer from mental and physical ailments, drug addiction, and limited opportunities to become successful; these issues increase the likelihood that they will eventually engage in criminal activity. If we merely incarcerate them while they “pay their debt to society”, they will most likely return to society only with additional difficulties; without the proper tools to know how to live appropriately. The additional difficulties gained from incarceration are: a criminal record that impacts the opportunity for employment, they will be older and still without marketable skills or the education needed, social relationships as well as social skills may have deteriorated during the time spent incarcerated and they may have become acclimated to the criminal environment and culture. Incarcerating offenders may actually increase recidivism rates. A rehabilitative approach, as opposed to a punitive...
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...Jails and Prisons Sarrita Will CJA/234 January 13, 2014 Helen Ford Jails and Prisons From 1790 to 1995 the criminal justice system went through nine different eras: penitentiary, mass prison, reformatory, industrial, punitive, treatment, community-based, warehousing, and just desserts. Each era described the jails place in corrections and outlines the role of jails throughout history to the present day. The Pennsylvania Quakers believed that honest labor would be the best and most humane way to deal with offenders and their irrational behavior within the community. In the year of 1786 convicts that were put to work on public projects. To distinguish the convicts from the public they wore clothes that were bright and shabby along with a ball and chain that was attached at their ankles. This was believed to prevent offenders from escaping into the community (University of Phoenix, 2011). As the criminal justice system evolved humiliation turned towards incarceration. With the population growing someone had to manage these lock-ups and the control was given to the local areas. Within the lock-ups there would be a mixture of women and men, and petty thieves with violent offenders. As the population grew not only counties but states as well began to maintain their own correctional systems. The correctional systems were managed by local sheriff department (Texas Education Agency, 2011). The duties of these departments housed suspects until their trial or sentencing, provide...
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...Kaplan University Arsianna Walker Comp II Final Project “Fear, which, in turn, is utilized as a rationalization for discrimination and prejudice” (Akhtar, 2014). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics since 1990 an average of 590,400 inmates have been released annually from federal/state prisons. The amount of people that have been incarcerated is a multiplying number yearly in this country. America should be more tolerant if not accepting to the idea of convicted felon’s reintegration in to society. It is disheartening that people still live in fear or look down on others whom have had to be incarcerated. If we overcome our discriminations against convicted felons, they can successfully re-enter society, and become productive law abiding citizens. Imagine applying for job after job, with no luck at all even though your credentials qualify you. With no income to provide much less survive, how can anyone make it? The opportunity that someone with a clean criminal history has is incomparable to that of someone with even just one prior conviction. Jobs as well as housing are not as easily attained by a convicted felon. I myself would not know what to do or how to handle the heavy weight of re-entering society. I am not one to make excuses, pacify or enable anyone. This is a real issue that families are suffering the consequences of. Unfortunately the view on imprisonment has been distorted by society ideas to label it as a way to lock up a “bad person and throw...
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...society. The subject of this paper pertains to research of past, present, and future trends in the development and operation of corrections. In some ways corrections are similar to the operation trends of two decades ago. In other ways the development of corrections has come far compared to corrections in the beginning. Other subjects of the paper include current and future issues for prisons and prison administrators and an explanation for why these issues overwhelm corrections. A last topic for discussion is the roles of alternate corrections as a developing trend. Conditions in the early era were inhumane because of prisoners starving, and trends of punishment were in the form of physical punishment. Examples of this were punishments, such as prisoners hanged, tortured, beheaded, or mutilated. This punishment was popular in England, but it had an effect on its American predecessors. Although the conservative e trend that emerged in the 1970s continued to...
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...As through everything in history we have development and changes, in law order and punishment. In the text Corrections in America: An Introduction by Harry Allen and Clifford Simonsen the development of the history of punishment is described. From the earlier more aboriginal laws to the development of the code of corrections to the new world. During the earlier sixth century Rome was ruled by the Emperor Justinian, which at that point his Code of Laws were written. Although not perfect it was an attempt to create an equal punishment for every crime. In a way it was made so every offender may know what to expect as the punishment for the crime committed. The code of Justinian did not flourish when the Roman Empire fell but it did however provide the foundation in which most of the world’s legal codes and laws are built on. Although many legal laws and codes are built on the foundation of the crime and punishment created by Emperor Justinian on fairness, Greece however has a harsher code. In Greece the code of Draco “ gave equal punishment to slaves and freemen.(p 7) Draco was based off the earlier less developed societies that believed in equal punishment, as we say today an eye for an eye, “ The...
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