Punishment
Punishment Forms of Criminal Punishment
Introduction to Punishment
Although some societies still use ancient forms of harsh physical punishment, punishments have also evolved along with civilization and become less cruel. Punishments range in severity depending on the crime, with the most severe forms applied to individuals who commit the most serious crimes. In most industrialized societies, contemporary punishments are either fines or terms of incarceration or both. Contemporary criminal punishment also seeks to correct unlawful behavior, rather than simply punish wrongdoers. ” (1)
The Punishment for Murder: International Incident
In the book “International Incidents for Discussion in Conversation Classes”, in relation to this subject, L. Oppenheim wrote in 1909: In 1905 Henry Johnson, an English subject, commits a murder in London but succeeds in escaping. In 1906 he appears in Rome under the name of Charles Waiter and commits a murder there also. During his trial at Rome his real name and antecedents are disclosed and reported in England. As the Italian penal code does not provide capital punishment and he is therefore only condemned to penal servitude for life, the question is raised in the English Press whether England could not demand the extradition of the murderer, so that he might be tried and executed in England for the murder committed there.
Punishment, Instrument, Murder
From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Punishment, Instrument, Murder (2): A parent or a person in foro domestico or in loco parentis may give reasonable corrective punishment with a fit instrument to a child. But if a parent or master whips a child so that it dies, he is guilty of manslaughter. And if he uses lethal instruments of punishment, he is guilty of murder. Where a mother in anger threw a poker at one child and hit and killed another child, she was guilty of manslaughter. The punishment always becomes unlawful when it is excessive, and drunkenness is no excuse.
Punishments, by Bentham
Text of one of the sections, titled “Punishments” in the “Specimen of a Penal Code”, edited from the French of Dumont, and the original MSS. and printed works of Bentham, of the “Essay on the Promulgation of Laws, and the Reasons Thereof; with Specimen of a Penal Code”, of the classical book “An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation”, by Jeremy Bentham:
1. Fine. At the discretion of the tribunal.
2. Imprisonment. At the option and discretion of the tribunal.
3. Security for good Conduct. This also at option and discretion.
4. In very grave cases, Banishment from the presence of the party injured, for a time or for ever. This also at option and discretion.
5. Costs. At option and discretion.
N.B. Each of these articles requires references to the different sections of the general head of “Punishments;” there, the phrases at option and discretion should be explained.
At option, is a concise method of expressing that it will be lawful for the judge either to employ this punishment or not.
At discretion, signifies that the judge ought to employ a certain portion of this punishment, with this limitation, that he should employ so much or so little, as shall be conformable to the general rules prescribed to him under the general head of “Punishments.”
It is impossible to give all these explanations at once: that every difficulty might be removed, it would be necessary to publish the whole Penal Code. The reader is requested to observe, that this example is intended principally to show the use of a commentary of reasons.
The Legal History of Punishment
This section provides an overview of Punishment in its historical context.
The Legal History of Theories Regarding Purpose of Punishment
This section provides an overview of Theories Regarding Purpose of Punishment.
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Punishment in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
- Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago
See Also
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Procedure
- Social Problem
- Crime
- Delinquency
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Delinquent
- Social Issues
- Crime Prevention
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