Criminal Punishment

     Ever since the unwritten law of right and wrong has been applied, man has debated what type of punishment should be enforced for a criminal act or acts.

     In most third world countries, a punishment can far outweigh the crime.  Religion and culture formulate these laws and must be adhered to in the strictest sense or have the violator face serious consequences.

     In ancient Rome, one can only imagine the battlefield-like arena with gladiator pitted against gladiator.  The roaring crowd would not be applauding a basketball player pumping back, shooting and hitting nothing but net, but rather, a tiger mauling a slave to death.  Imagine the quantity of blood spewing endlessly throughout the day and the aroma of death filling the air.  Deadly violence in sports arenas was acceptable to emperors and commoners alike.  This barbaric behavior cannot be attributed to any one country through the evolutionary process but by evolution alone.  The term “Only the Strong Survive”, has been relevant since the dawn of time.  Some countries today still practice “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” rule of law.  Theft in some Middle Eastern countries is punishable by the severance of one or both hands; to make it more difficult for the thief to be a repeat offender.  “Allegedly” cheating on a spouse or disrespecting him or a family member can draw the wrath of being stoned to death. With so much diversity in this world and cultures we cannot understand, an international rule of law will only be a dream for the future.

     By contrast, civilized countries, past and present, have written laws that humanize the crime and in certain instances, allow the law breaker a chance to rehabilitate, or a term I like to use, “grow up”.  Bad judgment is human in nature and can be corrected, given the chance.  No rule of law is foolproof and many criminals have never been caught breaking the law while innocent bystanders have gone to prison for lengthy stays unless, and until DNA tests prove their innocence.

     As civilized nations evolve even further, the last bastion of barbaric punishment will be banned in its entirety.  Capital punishment is used as a deterrent to minimize the number of murders committed by a society.  A murderer will not stop his murderous thought process long enough to weigh the consequences of his or her pending actions.  Besides, who is to say that capital punishment is a more severe form of punishment than spending the rest of one’s life like a caged animal?

     Civilized nations give the accused the benefit of the doubt in the form of “innocent until proven guilty”.  This rule of law is taxing to the judicial system but is necessary to respect the rights of its citizens, to the extent that in a criminal trial, defense lawyers initially have the upper hand against prosecutors.  Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the crime for which he or she has been brought before the court.  Sometimes celebrity status or race will play a crucial role in the outcome of a trial by jury verdict.  Hard, physical evidence was evident in the O.J. Simpson trial, but the defendant was found “not guilty” by the jury.  The trial was tainted by money, greed and racial sensitivity.  Had it been the same scenario with a lesser known citizen committing the murders, the jury would have expeditiously returned a guilty verdict. 

     No court system has ever been perfect although the court systems that respect human rights have proven to be the righteous ones. Additionally, a citizens’ right to a speedy trial and the option of appealing a guilty verdict to a higher court should be the envy of all countries.

     In the foreseeable future, no one can expect all nations to be at par with each other when it comes to crime and punishment. For now, punishment for a crime will be left to the discretion of each individual country and its own rule of law based on its religion and culture.  Human rights in our culture has always been kept at the forefront of humanity, and our ability to respect the rights of our citizens no matter who they are or how far they have climbed up the social ladder, WILL be the cornerstone of our existence.