Preview

Fixed Vs Unfixed Penalty

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
370 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fixed Vs Unfixed Penalty
Fixed Vs unfixed penalty
Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment.
Fixing punishments for each type of crime has been a debatable issue. There are many arguments supporting both views, those for and those against fixed punishments.
On the one hand, fixed punishments will have a deterring effect on society. Individuals knowing that they will be subject to a certain punishment if they are convicted with a given crime will reconsider committing this act. In the first place, this deterring effect also leads to social stability and security, through minimising the number of crimes committed. If people knew they would be able to convince the court or the jury of a reason for having committed the crime they are accused of, penal decisions would be largely arbitrary. This would result into criminals getting away with their crimes and into a high level of injustice caused by the subjective approach of different courts.
On the other hand, taking the circumstances of a crime and its motivation into consideration is a prerequisite for establishing and ensuring justice and equity. A person killing in self-defense cannot be compared to a serial killer, moving from one victim to the next. In my opinion an intermediary position between both solutions is the perfect way to establish and ensure justice and equity.
There have to be fixed punishments for all crimes. However, criminal laws have to provide for a minimum and a maximum for the punishment and the laws also have to foresee certain cases of exemptions. An example for setting minimum and maximum penalties is Competition Law where a person being held liable of a crime under this law will be convicted to pay a fine, according to the harm caused by the violation and the profit gained by the violator through

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Chemistry Final Exam #1

    • 1526 Words
    • 13 Pages

    What is the molecular geometry if you have 4 single bonds around the central atom?…

    • 1526 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Line of Duty by Steven G. Brandl is a descriptive analysis of police assaults and accidents. Mr. Brandl received a call from the president of the Milwaukee Police Association asking if he would be interested in conducting research on the workload demands of police officers working in Milwaukee and injuries to officers in Milwaukee.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The sentencing system should not be altered, for decreasing the focus and increasing the frequency of sentencing would do more harm than good. An emphasis on merely punishment and retribution in criminal sentencing would prevent the right of an offender to a fair trial. Furthermore, set and compulsory sentencing ignores personal circumstances, which in some cases could make all the difference. With these aggravating factors, hardening the system of law will not bring any advantages to society.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning of time, society has not always accepted that the punishment fits the crime. There is always uncertainty and bitterness with the belief that the punishment has been too harsh or too lenient.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In addition, the principles of sentencing established by common law and legislation must be applied in each case including the principle that imprisonment is only enforced when no other punishment is appropriate, the punishment must fit the crime and similar crimes should receive similar sentences. Introducing mandatory consistent sentencing standards would conflict with the judge’s ability to oversee specific circumstances of a case and to enforce a just…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every situation in life is unique and has its own set of circumstances. Crime is no different, which is why it often difficult to effectively use policies like mandatory minimum sentences, because not every crime is the same. It is acceptable for their to be some disparity in sentencing for similar crimes, but there still needs to be some consistency. The initiation of mandatory minimum sentences was due in large part to the fact that judges had too much discretion and it led to many similar cases having wildly different sentences.1 There was sound reasoning for enacting mandatory minimum sentences, but they “are the product of good intentions, but good intentions do not always make good policy; good results are also necessary.”1 Mandatory…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    a general system of punishment, the punishment of specific persons, and the specific type (and amount) of punishment to be imposed in a given scenario (Duff). With respect to the first component, which he called the “general justifying aim” of the system of punishment (Duff), there are several purposes for instituting a penal system; the most common of which are general deterrence, specific deterrence, incarceration/incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. While it is easy to see how each of these can be beneficial and justify the general punishment system in the abstract, upon closer examination the existence of multiple underlying justifications…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though incarceration should be about rehabilitating prisoners and releasing them back into society as productive members, unfortunately it has become about politics. Those running for office always want to appear to be tough on crime, and indeterminate sentencing appears to some to be too soft. Allowing prisoners to earn their freedom before they have served their maximum sentence is not punishment in the eyes of those that believe prisoners should be locked up and made to do hard…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Purpose and History

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Let’s first begin with what punishment means. Punishment is the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense. While completing my research I was able to stumble across two definitions that caught my attention. The general definition for punishment is “aversive stimulus that follows an undesirable behavior, and is intended to decrease or eliminate the occurrence of that behavior. It may be triggered either due to the performance of an undesirable act (negligence) or the non-performance of a desirable act (disobedience). Punishments take the form of presentation of an unpleasant stimulus (criticism or warning) or withdrawal of a pleasant one (employment or promotion). Threat of punishment usually also constitutes a punishment”. The definition of punishment pertaining to the law is “Confinement, fine, penalty, sanction, or loss of a privilege, property, or right, assessed and administered as deterrence or retribution by an authorized court to an entity duly convicted of violating the law of the land”. [ (Buisness Dictionary, 2013) ] Punishments must be adequate match the reasons why the crimes were committed. History shows that Cesare Beccarua who was an Italian theorist, first suggested linking crime causation to punishments in the eighteenth century. He is known as the founder of the Classical School of criminology. The classical School is the theory linking crime causation to punishment, based on offenders’ free will and…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Philosophy Of Sentencing

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The complexities of human nature, emotions, thought, morals and ethics have been debated for centuries, and the dilemma of sentencing another human to a form of corporal punishment, incarceration or death, requires a firm foundation in the laws of the land, tempered by years of study and dedication to the law one has sworn to uphold. The several reasons for sentencing of a crime is: Revenge, for an actual or perceived need for vengeance on a violation, usually one that is very personal and emotional in nature. Incapacitation, which is to prevent the criminal from repeating crimes against society by placing them into a correctional facility on a long term or permanent basis. Restoration, is a form of sentencing when the convening authority is attempting to protect the victims by helping them to feel safe and secure. Deterrence is a sentence where the courts attempt to prevent the subject of a crime from offending again. Retribution, which is probably the oldest reason for sentencing was utilized for equal punishment to the crime, drawing from the old adage “eye for an eye”. Lastly is the sentence of rehabilitation, which in societies modern view, the ideal and preferred sentence,…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sentencing Paper

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The second is retribution; this means that they punishment needs to fit the crime. A judge will not sentence someone to five years for a traffic violation and give a convicted murder just a few days. Judges need to take into account the full impact the crime had on everyone.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Crips History

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Crips are a mostly an black gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. What use to be an alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with each other. Its members usually wear blue clothing, a practice that has waned somewhat due to police crackdowns.…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Determinate Sentencing

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The purpose of sentencing: the “deserved infliction of suffering on evildoers and “the prevention of crime.” There four fundamental philosophies surrounding the purpose of sentencing. First, the oldest and most common is retribution. Retribution is the philosophy that those who commit criminal acts should be punished based on the severity of the crime and that no other factors need be considered. The second philosophy is deterrence. In deterrence, the goal of sentencing is to prevent future crimes. Deterrence takes a general and specific form. General deterrence is that by punishing one person, others will be dissuaded from committing a similar crime. Specific deterrence assumes thart an individual, after being punished once for a certain act,…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    sentencing

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the main problems with sentencing in the courts today is the broad nature of the crimes committed, in the legal system of England and Wales criminal offences are very broadly defined and can have widely varying degrees of severity, for example theft could be anything from stealing a chocolate bar from a corner shop, all of the way up to stealing the crown jewels.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sentencing Paper

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sentencing is very important and usually the last stage of the criminal process. The purpose of sentencing is to punish the criminals while at the same time stopping crime from continuing. The five philosophical reasons for sentencing are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and restoration. Retribution is the philosophy that those who commit criminal acts should be punished based on the severity of the crime and that no other factors need be considered. Deterrence is the strategy of preventing crime through the threat of punishment. It assumes that potential criminals will weigh the costs of punishments versus the benefits of the criminal act so then the punishments will more then likely be more severe. Incapacitation is a strategy for preventing crime by detaining wrongdoers in prison, separating them from the community and reducing criminal opportunities. Then there is rehabilitation, which is the philosophy that society is best served when wrongdoers are not simply punished, but provided the resources needed to eliminate criminality from their behavioral patterns. Restoration is a sentencing goal that seeks to address the damage by making the community and the victim “whole again”.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays