Law in Contemporary Society

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RorySkaggsSecondPaper 4 - 19 Apr 2010 - Main.MatthewZorn
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 The final reason for lesser punishments for attempt might be a bare rationalization, but regardless the basic idea is that the system is broken and any way to reduce punishments is worthwhile. Under its current widespread application, the criminal justice systems gives disproportionate punishment to a disproportionate set of people, and does little to prevent them from recidivism. Given limited resources and the un-rehabilitating nature of prisons, it is not beneficial for society to put more people away for longer periods of time. If the baseline punishments are already ineffective (or at least unguided), it makes little sense to ratchet up sentences for what we cognitively consider less harsh crimes. The inherent danger is that given our hierarchical mental constructions, this will only lead to increasing the high-end to keep a comfortable distance from the low, a tendency already natural to the political process of being ‘tough on crime.’ Thus, attempt should be punished less for the reasons stated above and as a brute check on the severity of the criminal justice system itself.

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Re: Why we punish less

There is always the mainstay retributive theory of justice, the "eye for an eye" principle. We punish completed crimes more than inchoate crimes because the actual societal harm suffered from the former is greater than the latter.

-- MatthewZorn - 19 Apr 2010

 
 
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Revision 4r4 - 19 Apr 2010 - 20:05:16 - MatthewZorn
Revision 3r3 - 19 Apr 2010 - 17:35:27 - RorySkaggs
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