Punishment and the Death Penalty in the United States
We live in the United States of America, a country that is proud of its freedoms, proud of it’s many accomplishments, and is one of the worlds leading powers. Unfortunately in the midst of our many accomplishments and advancements we seem to fall behind on our punishment and correctional system. With more than 2.1 million American’s in prison can we honestly say that we are proud of this as well? I doubt that we are proud of having the largest per capita incarceration rate of all industrialized nations and I also doubt furthermore that we want to be placed in the same category as China and Iran, who, combined with the our own executions, made up for 81 percent of the worlds executions. There is an obvious problem with our legal system, punishment system and correctional system and this topic needs to be addressed.
A study was created by The American Bar Association (the largest lawyers’ organization) to study the prison and correctional systems in the U.S. This was done in response to a message by Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, which urged that the association look into “the inadequacies - and the injustices – in our prison and correctional systems.” The judge also claimed in 2003 that “our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences to long.”
What exactly is wrong with our prison and correctional system? Mandatory minimum sentencing laws, racial and ethnic disparities, harsh punishments, lack of rehabilitation programs, assistance rather than hindrance for prisoners reentering society and lack of funding across the board for all programs specifically funding for substance abuse and mental health programs. The system in its current state is focused on the time aspect of punishment where doing time in jail makes up for your crime. The nature of a crime must first be looked at in order to determine a true solution for punishment and correction in the U.S.
When a person commits a crime they are committing and act against the laws laid down by the government. The government is a system set up for the protection and order of society for its citizens. So when a person commits a deviant act against society it would make sense that they should make reparations to the society and face a punishment for going against the established laws. The severity of a crime must dictate its punishment but the punishment must serve the purpose of making reparations for the deviant act committed in the first place. For a prisoner to just do time is not sufficient because they do not make up for their act done to society, instead they are just separated from society for a time period.
In order to correct the prison system in the U.S. we just first insure that there is a level playing field in terms of applying punishment. According to the Bar Associations study a black male born in 2001 has a 1 in 3 chance of being imprisoned during his lifetime, a Latino male has a 1 in 6 chance and a white male has a 1 in 17. There are many reasons for this but the fact remains that the issues behind this must be addressed in order to insure that all laws are applied fairly.
The severity and harshness of punishments must also be reassessed and mandatory minimum sentencing must be abolished. It is important to note that 95 percent of prisoners in the U.S. will eventually be released, unfortunately one third of prisoners released are expected to return. It is for this reason that we must pay extra attention to rehabilitation and institute a system that can prepare inmates to enter the world and function correctly in society.
Many philosophers argue that “doing time” is not the solution but rather making reparations for deviant acts that are committed. It is impossible to institute a system where complete reparations are made without being counter productive and in some cases causing even more wrong. An example of this would be burning down arson’s house in response to his crime. Instead it would be better to have that person rebuild, or work off their debt to society while also keeping them in a secure environment where they can be monitored until they are deemed ready to re-enter society. Benthalm proposed a prison system based on reform and rehabilitation.
A system created focusing on reform, rehabilitation, and making reparations would still encounter many problems. What if a prisoner doesn’t want to comply? What if they refuse to work or continue to be hostile towards society and its laws? When this occurs there is little that can be done beyond counseling and “serving time” behind bars. I think that if a prisoner cannot come to terms with their actions and make up for their actions they are forever in debt to society and are not fit to be a part of it. Hopefully a rehabilitation program could prevent this situation for the most part but in the event that a prisoner is deemed dangerous to society they would continue to be isolated from it until they are able to make reparations and accept society’s laws.
What do we do in the case of murderers? It is apparent that they can’t truly make reparations for their actions committed, so what then is to be done with them? Is the death penalty the solution? I don’t believe it is, and most of the world agrees. At the end of 2002 111 countries have abolished the death penalty including all of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, most of Latin America, South America and many African countries. However, in the U.S. we are presently expanding the use of the death penalty. We currently have 3500 prisoners on death row, which is more than any other country.
Some argue that the death penalty is a deterrent but studies have shown that in some cases crime decreased when the death penalty was applied and crime increased in other cases.
Some argue that it is the only true way for a murderer to receive his/her equivalent punishment, and this may be the case but what reparations are then made to society? Is that person better served making up for his/her actions or are they to only be executed? The crime was committed against the individual who was murdered and to an extent the family of the victim. It is hard to say that reparations can truly be made for the crime but killing the person leaves no opportunity for the murderer to even attempt to make reparations to the family and to society.
Many people also argue that keeping a person alive to live of the system is a waste of our money, but the fact is that applying the death penalty currently costs Americans 3 times the amount of money it costs to lock someone away for life. If the system were revamped to make the criminal work for society in order to pay for his/her crimes then this would no longer be the case at all.
What reasons are there for rejecting the death penalty? For starters it seems hypocritically to kill someone who has broken the law of not killing another human being and again by killing them they cannot make up (in any way) for what they have done. Also there is the moral standpoint of killing another human being. Can we ever really justify it? Is it the correct solution to the problem? These questions are impossible to answer fully and I don’t believe therefore that we can use this method of punishment. Then there is also the finality of death. Once we kill a prisoner we cannot reverse it, and what happens if in the future they are acquitted for their actions? Then we have committed a crime ourselves.
The core of both these issues is the need for reform of our current legal, punishment, and correctional systems. A system must be set up that equally and fairly disperses appropriate punishments to criminals based on the crimes the committed against society and to individuals. I believe the solution is to set up a system where criminals make up for their actions as best as they can and also are rehabilitated and prepared to re-enter society as a functioning and contributing member. Our current system does nothing to make reparations and it has shown to produce repeat offenders. The death penalty must also be re-evaluated. No reparations are made through death, death is final, and it is immoral to kill another human being, for these reasons the death penalty is not the answer.
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