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June 29, 2006
Should we bring back Corporal Punishment?
Stumbling and Mumbling suggests that we should after a proposal to reintroduce it to the UK. I'm not sure if doing so would be legal in the US because of the eight amendment, but perhaps it is worth considering. As a punishment, it fulfills the publics desire for retribution, but it is also cheap (it costs 32k to put someone in jail for a year in NY state). It could be perfect for first time offenders. One of the serious concerns of criminal punishment is that by putting young perps with hardened felons they learn the skills and social norms of criminals. They then have a harder time merging into society. So form first time offenders in crimes with low recidivism rates we could make criminals restitute their victims, and punish them wish a caning or pillory.
Maybe this isn't even cruel. Perhaps it is cruel to take a man who screwed up once (even if badly) and condemn him to a spell in jail after which he'll likely never work again in a decent job. Maybe he'd choose a canning and fine over the jail spell. And if he chose it would it be cruel?
Posted by OneEyedMan at June 29, 2006 10:23 AM
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