CRIME & PUNISHMENT

 

 

What constitutes a crime in a society is (a) an action or omission that is deemed by society to be harmful to that that society, that may be prosecuted by the agency of authority of that society and that is punishable according to the laws of that society, and (b)  an action or activity that, although lawful, is considered by that society to be evil, shameful, or wrong and is thereby is illegally to be prosecuted and/or punished which becomes a crime in and of itself if so done. This discussion is limited to the punishment for crimes and not to the crimes themselves that were illegally committed.

 So we must begin with the question of WHY any punishment at all for committing a crime. Which begs the question of WHY anything is a crime at all. And that goes back to the evolution of social groups that formed for the benefit of mutual protection of all. The collective morals of the majority of the group became the ethical standards of the group and crime became the unethical behavior of individuals within the group.  

In the beginning the punishment for unethical behavior was banishment from the group for the protection of the group. And that carries on until this very day. We banish murders from society by either executing them or placing them in a prison where they are beyond their grasp of the society which they offended. 

Over time the behaviors deem criminal became codified as law. We know of many dozens of legal codes tracing back to as early as 4000 years ago.The earliest known of these is the code of Urukagina (2380–2360 BCE), followed by the more famous Code of  Hammurabi a thousand years later.Today we have hundreds if not thousands of such behavioral codes for groups as diverse as nations, state and local governments, religious groups, professional organizations, athletics, games, home owners associations, social clubs, and gangs. And they also often overlap. But the thing they have is common is punishment for violations of their behavioral codes.And the only punishment known to be 100% effect is death.

The other thing they have in common is that punishment varies widely even for the same violations in different groups. Almost universally the most serious crime is murder, ie. the intentional killing of a member of your own society for your own purposes or benefit. The penalty was almost universally was death. But now the penalty ranges from  death, to life in prison without possibility of parole, to life in prison with possibility to parole, to a finite term of imprisonment as short as 2 years. In some jurisdiction the death penalty is no longer used as a penalty.

 To what crimes the death penalty applies also varies from legal jurisdiction to jurisdiction. BY far, the most death sentences imposed in China with more than 1000 executions in 2021. Not only is intention homicide punishable by death but also is assault not resulting in death. But so is illegal possession, transportation or selling of explosives or firearms; production or sale of counterfeit drugs and hazardous food products; robbery; embezzlement; and surrender or cowardice of soldiers. In Iran many drug crimes are punishable by death as are adultery; rape; sodomy; blasphemy of the Profit Muhammad, his daughter, or his family; incest; lesbianism; pimping and repeated drunkenness. Indeed, most of these crimes are not punishable by death in legal jurisdictions around the world.

 As such it might be reasonable to think that the punishment is set by the society in proportion to the perceived severity of the crime to the society at large. and not so much as prevention of future crime but as retribution for the crime already committed. That is, the punishment fulfills the emotional imperatives of the of society at large.

The legal concept of lex talionis -- an eye for an eye -- has long been the guiding principle for meting criminal punishment for as long as legal codes have existed. It is a reasoned approach but is not necessarily a uniform one in its application. Sodomy will get you hanged in the Islamic Republic of Iran whatever your religious beliefs but in the United States of America morality cannot even be used as a basis for sodomy being a crime. In both cases, the agency of authority in each country -- the both determines the crime and and enforces the law.

 Finally, sentencing of the one found guilty of a crime with their punishment is often an equally ambiguous as the nature and severity of the crime itself. Not only is the judgement of quilt the opinion of one or more persons but so is often the judgement of the punishment. According, justice is never an exercise in certitude.

"Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged." ~ Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)