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Essay on The History and Evolution of Punishment for Crime

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The incarceration rate in the United States has continued to climb over the past twenty years making it one of the highest in the world. Police officers have been going to work trying to put away people who are breaking the law, but why do criminals continue to do so when they know they have a good chance of getting caught? Crime has been around since societies have evolved and every society has had their own way of dealing with criminal behavior. From early tribal times where the thinking was an eye for an eye, to medieval times when people who stole a loaf of bread would be put to death by being hung, and today with a court system that decides the fate of a criminal. Throughout history the ways of punishing people have changed pretty …show more content…

And he shall look to his house for it” (Hoffner 1997:71, Skoll pg 26). Unlike in today’s societies these examples show that there is no one above the law and that there is an exact consequence for the crime. There is no plea bargaining for a lesser charge and there is no first, second, or third degree of murder or any other crime. In the United States today the president can pardon a criminal of a crime if he feels he wants to, showing that the president can be above the law. This may be a reason why people do commit crimes today because they know they can get away with more and do less time in some cases. Although these are primitive times, the set rules are not to be changed or broken; there is a direct punishment for separate crimes which everyone knows. In today’s society a person could be put on death row for murder while another receives twenty years or less. There are no loopholes in the primitive system, all a person needs today is money to pay for a good lawyer. The people of our time believe that we have a fair justice system, who gives out equal and right punishments, but still guilty people are being let go free and in some cases innocent people are being put behind bars. Yes we have a fair legal system but before this system came into play there was a more barbaric way of gaining confessions and handing out punishment. The medieval period was filled with ruthless killings handed down by power hungry kings

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