Crime and Punishment, United States
The main mandate of the justice system is to investigate, make arrests, gather evidence, bring charges forward, conduct trials, render a sentence and carry out a punishment. The judicial system is therefore trusted to make the right judgments and to give punishments only to those who deserve it in proportion to the nature of the crimes they have committed. They are not expected to make mistakes because they are supposed to conduct a sufficient investigation and gather enough evidence before they can convict a criminal (Gilligan 47). It is a pity however how many people are serving sentences for crimes they have never committed. Innocent people are languishing in jails in many parts of the world just because somebody failed to do their duty properly.
The death penalty information Centre estimates that about 1200 people executed since 1976 in the United States may have been innocent. A good example is the case of Willingham Cameron who was charged with the murder of his three children by arson. After his execution, a new report from a national arson expert concluded that the original investigation to the case was dangerously flawed and possibly will not hold up a finding of arson. The question is how many people cannot defend themselves or prove their innocence yet they really are innocent? (Garrett 69)
[...] Some of the judges and the officers no longer have their countries best interest at their hearts but are working hard for their own benefits and personal interests. Our justice system is quickly turning out to be the place where a lot of injustices actually occur. The craving for power has also been a common phenomenon affecting our justice system. Judges no longer make objective judgments but make their decisions and judgments according to the political wave in order to find favor with the high and mighty. [...]
[...] Where Prosecutions Go erroneous - Crime and Punishment The main mandate of the justice system is to investigate, make arrests, gather evidence, bring charges forward, conduct trials, render a sentence and carry out a punishment. The judicial system is therefore trusted to make the right judgments and to give punishments only to those who deserve it in proportion to the nature of the crimes they have committed. They are not expected to make mistakes because they are supposed to conduct a sufficient investigation and gather enough evidence before they can convict a criminal (Gilligan 47). [...]
[...] If somebody sees another serving a sentence because of a crime he committed, he may shy away from doing the same for fear of facing the same predicament. Where there is no punishment, people will be encouraged to engage in crime because after all there are no adverse consequences for them. Therefore in a way it helps to reduce crime levels in the society. The question of to what degree punishment should be carried out should however be considered when issuing punishments. [...]
[...] But is there really a relationship between forgiveness and crime? Many scholars will argue that when it comes to crime, there is no room for forgiveness. Forgiveness and lack of punishment for criminals can also lead to the up rise of criminal activities because people will take shelter or solace in the fact that there is no punishment after all. Gilligan shows the links between violence and shame and argues out that that emotion (shame) drives people to destroy others and even themselves. [...]
[...] Death penalties should even be a thing of the past by now according to me. The people who are sentenced to death are not given a chance to reform. Even if they regret their actions and they want to be better persons, they are not given the chance to make their wishes come true. A society without proper punishment will be a perverse society. People have to take accountability for their proceedings and also have to study that criminal activities are not accepted in the society. [...]
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