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The importance of capital punishment.
capital punishment 8 pages
The importance of capital punishment.
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Is Flogging Out Of The Question? When we think of any kind of punishment for a legal crime, we do not think of anything that will involve any kind of physical pain, for the most part, mainly imprisonment. The exception to the rule would have to be the states that allow electrocution, gas chamber, hanging and firing squad, which Oklahoma and Utah still allow. Most states still practice the death penalty, the lethal injection being the primary source, of course for very serious crimes. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, eighteen states have abolished the death penalty, with the most recent being Maryland in 2013; thirty two states still allow it, including U.S. Government and U.S. Military. However, this change is not retroactive, …show more content…
Mr. Jacoby starts his essay, Bring Back Flogging, by giving a little bit of a history lesson on how the Puritans handled “crimes.” They ranged from whipping in public to branding of the cheeks, for “crimes” like selling arms, blasphemy, and adultery. Even though now a days we would see all this as abuse or a crime itself. He uses the term, “flogged,” when writing about how offenders were punished. He writes: “The day is long past when the stocks had an honored place on the Boston Common, or when offenders were publicly flogged” (para. 2). The problem I see with this term is that he does not take the time to explain or define what he means by flogged. For all I know flogging might be beating a “criminal” with a stick, but might mean for Jacoby to tie someone up and whipping them. As he mentions on his essay, he is pro-flogging, or as I interpret it, he wants punishments be of those that inflict pain other that people being sent to a “cage” as he …show more content…
“If young punks were horsewhipped in public after their first conviction, fewer of them would harden into lifelong felons” (para. 8). This is were I definitely agree with Jacoby. Just like having children, we need to discipline them when they do something wrong. There is a difference between abuse and a firm hand. What the Puritans did was abuse, we can even go as far as to say that it was torture; what Jacoby is proposing, is a firm hand. There is a bigger impact when the issue is address at start. So if a young kid gets caught for stealing maybe a few lashes in public would embarrass him and set him straight. Of course there are always times where this will not work, the exception to the rule. However, I have this theory: “pain retains,” this mean that people do not want to be subject to painful acts, so they will learn to do something or not to do something. This act of “flogging” is quick and cheap, like mentioned by Jacoby. “A humiliating and painful paddling can be applied to the rear end of a crook for a lot less than $30,000 - and prove a lot more educational than ten years’ worth of prison meals and
Every civilized society makes laws that protect its values, and the society expects every single citizen to obey these laws. Whenever a citizen of a certain society breaks one of these laws, the rulers of the society dish out punishments they dim fit for the kind of crime committed. With this kind of justice system in place, criminals are either locked up in prison cells, whipped, or exiled from the society. In the essay, “Bring Back Flogging”, columnist Jeff Jacoby argues that flogging is much more superior to imprisonment and should be brought back as a method of punishing crime offenders like the Puritans did in the past. He is convinced that the shame associated with flogging would prevent offenders from going into crime professionally. Jacoby believes that whipping criminals has more educational value compared to locking them up in cells and that it saves a lot of money. Throughout the essay Jacoby attempts to build ethos even though it fell apart due to misconceptions. He relied mostly on the use of pathos by appealing to his reader’s emotions and using this as a base ground for his logos.
In this paper I will explain and discuss the historical events that took place in a small rural town in early Massachusetts. The setting for which is Irene Quenzler Brown's and Richard D. Brown's, The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler. I will explain the actions and motives of Hannah and Betsy Wheeler in seeking legal retribution of husband and father Ephraim Wheeler. I will also discuss the large scope of patriarchal power allowed by the law and that given to husbands and masters of households. Of course, this will also lead to discussions of what was considered abuse of these powers by society and the motivation for upholding the Supreme Court's decision to hang Ephraim Wheeler.
Jacoby does not provide any backing for this warrant and gives no evidence of corporal punishment decreasing crime in other countries. Instead, he just assumes that the experience of immense physical pain would decrease crime. Jacoby’s failure to back up his warrant of physical pain being a deterrent of crime causes the reader to dismiss his argument of using corporal punishment as an alternative to imprisonment. Additionally, he never defines the term “flogging.” This lack of specification is confusing for the reader as it is unclear what Jacoby is actually talking about.
Finally it is not cost efficient or effective. The certainty of arrest, prosecution, conviction, imprisonment and punishment has a far greater deterrent effect than the brutality of punishment.
Flogging…What is it? What purpose does it serve? For those of us who have never heard of flogging, flogging refers to “beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment” (“Flogging” 1). Throughout the 1600s, flogging was utilized by “Boston’s Puritan Forefathers” (Jacoby 1) as a method of corporal punishment for various crimes. Progressing forward, Jeff Jacoby, columnist for The Boston Globe, provides readers with his view of “Boston’s Forefathers’” system of punishment in his essay, “Bring Back Flogging.” Within the contents of his work, Jacoby describes how flogging was utilized as punishment in its day. One such example he utilizes involves a woman who pleaded guilty to committing adultery. He writes that her punishment was “fifteen stripes severally to be laid on upon her naked back at the Common Whipping post” (Jacoby 1). In his piece, Jacoby argues for the revival of flogging and Puritan style punishment in the United States. As well as this, the author illustrates how imprisonment has become society’s general form of punishment and has now become outdated. Jacoby proposes that in order to cut costs and prevent future crime within first time offenders the turn to flogging must be taken. Jacoby’s logic to his argument is that since crime rates are rising, keeping prisoners locked up is expensive, and “the penal system is choked to bursting” (Jacoby 1), prisons should be done away with and flogging should take the reins as the new form of corporal punishment. Bearing in mind the above, Jacoby’s argument on bringing back flogging is unconvincing for the reason that his assumptions are incoherent and flogging itself is inhumane and could prove to be ineffective.
Currently, 35 states still impose the death penalty while 16 states, including the District of Columbia, have abolished it. Opponents of capital punishment point out that the states that allow the death penalty experienced 42 percent more murders than the states who have abolished the deat...
Jacoby gives no evidence of corporal punishment decreasing crime in other countries and just assumes that it would. Additionally, he never defines the term “flogging.” This lack of specification is confusing for the reader as it is unclear what Jacoby is actually talking about. For example, the reader would probably have a different opinion if by “flogging” he meant striking or spanking the offender a couple times with a belt to administer temporary pain without long lasting effects or scars, than if “flogging” meant beating the offender mercilessly with a whip until skin is broken and blood is shed. The lack of providing a definition for the word “flogging,” makes it nearly impossible for the reader to form an opinion on whether or not flogging should be brought back as a method of punishing
For centuries, prisons have been attempting to reinforce good behavior through various methods of punishment, some more severe than others. There are several types of punishments which include “corporal punishment, public humiliation, penal bondage, and banishment for more severe offenses, as well as capital punishment”(Linklater, V). Punishments which are more severe pose the question “Has it gone too far?” and is stripping away the rights and humanity of a criminal justified with the response it is for the protection of the people? Is justice really served?
He suggests flogging, but he gives no evidence as to why flogging would be more effective. Since Jacoby does not consider any other alternatives to prison such as community service, loss of privileges, or in extreme cases, exile, his argument that flogging is the best alternative is unconvincing to the reader. Also, he fails to define flogging or give proof that physical punishment would lower the high crime rate in the United States. Thus, while his article raises compelling concerns about the American prison system, Jeff Jacoby fails to persuade his audience that flogging is the best alternative to
... The material used to support the inadequacy is inadequate. Statistical data lacks credibility, and opinions from authoritative figures do little in comparison to support the reasoning. Jacoby’s solution is to implement flogging into the punishment of low-level offenders from becoming hardened criminals, but the solution falls short, failing to discuss the moral issues surrounding it. Jeff Jacoby attempts to replace an ineffective system with an outdated one, ultimately failing to convince the reader that flogging is a reasonable and practical solution.
In the article “Bring Back Flogging” Jeff Jacoby writes that prison inmates are given a disservice more than people who used to be flogged in the 1600s. Flogging was a punishment that used for a wide variety of crimes and was usually done publicly with the victim being whipped an appointed number of times. Jacoby writes that flogging is a more educational experience than going to jail because it is an experience that the criminal will never forget. He goes on to say that another reason why prisons are obsolete is because they are so expensive and often times the prisoners do not come out reformed.
Several other punishments of the medieval period were also rather gruesome. If you were charged with treason, but you were a noble person otherwise, you were to be simply hanged and buried. If you committed murder, and were found guilty of attempted murder, you’d be tied up, near the scene of the crime and left to starve to death. If you were convicted of a successful murder, you’d be hung for a little while, have your hands cut off, and then led to where you’d be executed. Rouges were to be sent to the stockades and whipped, anyone who disturbed the peace were to be continuously du...
Furthermore, it will be looking at whether punishment could be re-imagined, and if so, what would it entail? The use of prison as a form of punishment began to become popular in the early 19th century. This was because transportation to colonies had started to decrease; transportation was the removing of an individual, in this case an offender, from its country to another country; usually for a period of seven to ten years and in some cases for ever. During this time prison was now being used as a means for punishment, this was in response to the declining of transportation to colonies. Thus, instead of transporting offenders to other colonies, they were now being locked away behind high walls of the prison.
Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfarism and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years.
Punishment has been in existence since the early colonial period and has continued throughout history as a method used to deter criminals from committing criminal acts. Philosophers believe that punishment is a necessity in today’s modern society as it is a worldwide response to crime and violence. Friedrich Nietzche’s book “Punishment and Rehabilitation” reiterates that “punishment makes us into who we are; it creates in us a sense of responsibility and the ability to take and release our social obligations” (Blue, Naden, 2001). Immanuel Kant believes that if an individual commits a crime then punishment should be inflicted upon that individual for the crime committed. Cesare Beccaria, also believes that if there is a breach of the law by individuals then that individual should be punished accordingly.