Public Punishment In Texas Essay

In the United States there are four main goals when it comes to punishment which are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). The main goals for these punishments are to maintain order over society and to prevent recidivism (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). This ties into the Ecology perspective. By maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism, it ties into all of the issues regarding the Ecology perspective which requires for each issue to address the individual, family, community and society. Maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism strives toward making a safer environment for the individual, family, community and society. There is no universal agreement for making the severity of punishment just or fair (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). When it comes to retribution the person who is getting punished deserves the punishment (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Retribution refers to when an individual commits a certain crime then that person must receive a punishment proportionate to that crime or suffering that they may have caused towards the victim (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Regarding deterrence there are two types, general deterrence and specific deterrence (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). General deterrence focuses on the society in general and wants to scare everyone away from committing crimes (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Specific deterrence focuses on criminals that have already been convicted and wants to prevent them from

In “Bring Back Flogging”, Jeff Jacoby addresses the problems within America 's criminal justice system. He gives many reasons why imprisonment simply does not work, and suggests that corporal punishment should be used as an alternative. Published in the Boston Globe, a newspaper well known for being liberal, Jacoby provides a conservative view and directs his argument towards those who strongly support imprisonment and view corporal punishment to be highly barbaric and inhumane. However, in order to shed light on our current situation, Jacoby discusses the dangers that we face though our criminal justice system a nd shows concern that imprisonment is doing more harm than good. In effect, Jacoby looks to the past for solutions, and

The United States prison population has grown seven-fold over the past forty years, and many Americans today tend to believe that the high levels of incarceration in our country stem from factors such as racism, socioeconomic differences, and drugs. While these factors have contributed to the incarceration rate present in our country today, I argue that the most important reason our country has such a high incarceration rate is the policy changes that have occurred since the 1970s. During this time, the United States has enacted policy changes that have produced an astounding rise in the use of imprisonment for social control. These policy changes were enacted in order to achieve greater consistency, certainty, and severity and include sentencing laws such as determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing, and three strikes laws (National Research Council 2014). Furthermore, I argue that mandatory sentencing has had the most significant effect on the incarceration rate.

In his book “Punishment and Inequality in America” Western discusses the underlying racial disparities that have lead to a mass incarceration in the United States. He states that incarceration rates have increased by a substantial amount. The race and class disparities viewed in impromesment are very large and class disparities have grown by a dramatic amount. In his book he argues that an increase in mass incarceration occured due to a significant increase in crime. The increase in mass incarceration can also be correlated with urban street crime that proliferated as joblessness in inner-city communities increased (Western, 2006). He also states that an increase in incarceration rates may be due to the changes in politics and policy which have intensified criminal punishment even though criminal offending did not increase. Although these are substantial reasons as to why incarceration has increased significantly in the US there are many underlying issues. The incarceration rates amongst young black men have increased the most in the United states, black men are more likely to go to prison than white and Hispanic men (Western, 2006). This may be largely due to factors such as unemployment, family instability, and neighborhood disorder which combine to produce especially high rates of violence among young black men in the United States (Western, 2006). A rise in incarceration rates may also be largely due to to increased drug arrests which represent the racial disparity.

The concept of mandatory sentencing is a relatively new idea in the legal field. It was first introduced in 1951 with the Boggs Act, and it made simple marijuana possession a minimum of two to ten years with a $20,000 fine. This was eventually repealed by Congress in 1970, but mandatory sentences came back with the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Since then, the scope and presence of mandatory sentencing has only grown, especially mandatory sentences for drug related offenses. Recently, there has been a growing concern over the use and implementation of mandatory minimum sentencing, with many believing it reduces a judge’s ability to give out a sentence that they feel accordingly fits the crime. Many advocates for mandatory

There are laws and decisions of United States government and higher orders that present controversy to the people of America. In the state of Texas the application of the death penalty is difficult to interpret, especially for the mentally ill, because there is no written law or bill that explains the execution implication in complete detail. The death penalty is a capital punishment of death for those who have committed such high crime. This penalty goes for everyone who does such act no matter who you are, how rich how poor, or where you stand in society. For the longest time, even with the mindset and understanding that those who commit crime to a certain level can receive the execution punishment, the concern and debate whether the mentally

To begin with, at the start of his article Jeff Jacoby mentions old tactics of punishment pursued by Puritans. At the same time, the author is giving ideas of how to take justice into our own hands. For example, in paragraph 13 Jacoby mentions, “Their sanctions (Puritan's actions) were humiliating and painful, but quick and cheap. Maybe we should readopt a few,” basically the author is suggesting we should punish criminals with our own hands. Consequently, Jacoby declares on paragraph 6, “…a stint in prison becomes a sign of manhood, a status of the symbol,” now the author is claiming that the prisons are unworthy and incarcerate people is not the solution because according to him there are better ways.

Putting people to death for breaking the law is a punishment that has been in existence for thousands of years of human history and has been enforced in all corners of the

Is Texas public policy effective? The Texas government million-dollar question. This research paper will inform the readers on what public policy and effectiveness is in relation to Texas government. It will review five scholarly journals that all describe public policy and its effectiveness in Texas. It will also discuss one public policy specifically regarding the health care that Texas has imposed upon their prison inmates. The goal of this research paper is to conclude whether Texas public policy is effective or not. It will achieve this goal by concluding through a case study that the health care the government has implemented in Texas prisons for inmates is not

In “Bring Back Flogging”, the author, Jeff Jacoby suggests that people should adopt some of the Puritans tactics to punish criminals instead of putting them in prison. In order to present his claim, Jacoby is based in the use of irony, logos, and ethos. According to Jeff Jacoby a moment of humiliation is better than a couple of years behind the bars. I do not agree with Jeff Jacoby’s argument because the examples he gives and the way he refers to the topic incite to violence, also during the development of the subject he is too contradictory with his own opinions, and his arguments are unclear.

Since the death penalty was reauthorized in 1976, 1,362 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states, with most occurring after 1990. Texas has accounted for over one-third of modern executions and over four times as many as Virginia, the state with the second-highest number. The Walls Unit prison in downtown Huntsville, Texas is the nations busiest execution chamber.

The state of Texas penal code and forms of punishment are more than fine the way that it is, because as previously mentioned the other checks and balances would come into play and quickly over turn any punishment or law that would be deemed excessive or unconstitutional or at the very least put Texas on a defense from constant legal challenges in court (Reynolds, 1996). However this does not necessarily mean that current punishments that Texas employs can not be tweaked or adjusted. An example of how punishments in Texas can be better adjusted to combat ineffectiveness or inefficiency is to concentrate at the sources of the problem, basically the: “how the problem first develop in the first place” such as youthful offenders were prevention

During the 1920s to the 1950s, most Texans had viewed capital punishment as a just punishment for any horrific act to teach others not commit the same crimes but instead got most innocent African and Mexican Americans convicted and sentence to death. Most Texans had a sense of a strong sense of moral character, which they believe an immoral act deserves a punishment based on the nature of the crime. For example, Most Texans believed that people who committed crimes like murder and rape deserved severe punishment for their actions. Due to the fact that crimes such as rape and murder are the highest intolerable acts of all. For instance, murder involved a person taking another person’s life which too many Texans deserved the ultimate punishment,

The pilgrims came to this country in hopes of practicing their religion in peace and not persecuted by an abusive government. In the early colonial settlement of the United States the main focus was on rehabilitation. Settling a new land takes a lot of resources along with people to put those resources to use. So they were more concerned with solving the problem an individual might have compared to killing them. Also the communities were small, leading to people knowing almost everyone around them and their opinion about others, it was unlikely they would kill someone everyone else knew they hated leading to you quick capture and punishment. However over time more people meant more conflict and this lead for a need for punishments to stop people from acting as they saw fit and follow the standard society demanded.

For centuries governments have acted on behalf of society removing and punishing criminals with the goal of protecting its citizens. Criminals were arrested and locked-up in jails awaiting their sentencing. Once sentenced, they were publically humiliated, tortured, or killed. Early forms punishments were cruel and mostly focused on retribution.