Crime and Punishment

1. Crime and Punishment

2. Essay Questions • What do you consider to be effective means of keeping law and order in today’s society? (Cambridge 1988) • Consider the arguments for and against the use of death penalty in a modern society. (Cambridge 1997) • “Juvenile delinquency is on the rise because parents are not doing their job.” What do you think? (YJC) • “The abolition of capital punishment is a humane but unwise move.” Discuss. (CJC) • The threat of global terrorism is a destabilising force in today’s world. Give your views. (JJC)

3. Crime – a definition A violation of norm that has been entered into law and is backed by the power and authority of the state to impose formal sanctions eg. fines, arrest and imprisonment

4. Causes of crime Are criminals born or made? Nurture (Social and Economic factors) • Weakening family institution “In my judgement, one of the basic reasons we have had crime, lawlessness and disorder in the United States has been the breakdown of the family unit.” Robert F Kennedy • Violence and sexual permissiveness in the media

5. Causes of crime • Poverty “ Nothing incites to money-crimes like great poverty or great wealth.” Mark Twain • High unemployment rate • Consumerist and materialistic culture • Individualistic society • Decaying morals and religious foundation with rising secularism

6. Causes of crime • Discrimination and oppression • Inadequate social control • Easy availability of drugs and weapons • Peer influence

7. Causes of crime Nature (Inborn traits) • Weak-willed character • Low level of self-discipline • Susceptible to temptation • Psychiatric disorder • Schizophrenia • Psychopathy

8. Causes of crime • Genetic Disposition • Genetically predisposed to crimes

9. Types of Crime crimes that cause serious harm to people or property • Crime against a person - murder, rape, assault • Crime against property - arson, vandalism

10. The murder of James Bulger

11. Types of Crime • Prostitution • illegal sexual acts among consenting adults • drug abuse violations • Illegal gambling • acts viewed as criminal because the society as a whole regards them as morally repugnant

12. Types of Crime a self-perpetuating conspiracy that operates for profit or power and that seeks to obtain immunity from the law through fear and corruption (Abadinsky, 1981) • Providing illegal goods and services: • selling illegal drugs, • loan sharking • Providing legal goods and services by illegal means: • monopolise public services by bribing public officials & threatening violence against potential competitors • use legitimate companies to “launder” money* earned through their illegal activities the unlawful activities of the members of a highly organized, disciplined association engaged in supplying illegal goods and services

13. Types of Crime White-collar crime “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high status in the course of his occupation” (Sutherland, 1949) • illegal stock trading • embezzling • padding expense accounts • stealing from an employer • evading personal income taxes • unethical or unfair practices

15. Types of Crime the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or civilian population, to achieve political or other objectives • assassinations • bombings • arson • hostage-taking • hijacking • seizure and occupation of a building • ecological and high-tech terrorism

16. Types of Crime • Petty crimes • Cyber crime • Telecommunication crimes • Illegal groups • Genocide

17. THE CONCEPT OF PUNISHMENT Definition: Punishment under law is the authorized imposition of deprivations – of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens – because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent.

18. Key ideas: • Punishment is an authorized act, not an incidental or accidental harm. It is an act of the political authority having jurisdiction in the community where the harmful wrong occurred. 2. Specifying the deprivation as a deprivation of rights is a helpful reminder that a crime is (among other things) a violation of the victim's rights, and the harm thus done is akin to the kind of harm a punishment does.

19. 3. Punishment is a human institution, not a natural event outside human purposes, intentions, and acts. 4. Punishment is imposed on persons who are believed to have acted wrongly. Being found guilty by persons authorized to make such a finding, and based on their belief in the person's guilt, is a necessary condition of justified punishment. Actually being guilty is not.

20. Purpose of Punishment • Deterrence General – punishing this ∆ deters others Specific – punishing this ∆ to deter this ∆

21. Purpose of Punishment 2. Incapacitation/Protection Protect society by separating the criminal either by incarceration or stigmatization

22. Purpose of Punishment 3. Rehabilitation Cure the ∆ to prevent future crimes

23. Purpose of Punishment 4. Retribution • Punish the ∆ because he “deserves” it – “eye for an eye” • Punish ∆ to pay his “debt to society” so that he can be reinstated to society’s protection and benefits

24. Types of Punishment • Probation • Fine • Imprisonment • Monetary compensation • Exile • Home detention (House arrest)

25. Types of Punishment • Corporal Punishment • the legal imposition of physical pain on the convicted offender • E.g. caning, castration • Capital Punishment / Death Penalty

26. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment. THE DEATH PENALTY

27. THE DEATH PENALTY • History / Background • Methods • Arguments For and Against • The Death Penalty in Singapore

28. BACKGROUND • Since ancient times (18th – 5th Century B.C), the death penalty has been used for a variety of offences • Common methods then : Crucifixion, stoning, drowning, beating to death and burning alive • By 1500 in England, many people put to death for felonies like treason, rape, burglary, murder and arson

29. BACKGROUND • Britain influenced America's use of the death penalty more than any other country did. • Major reforms of the death penalty began in Europe by the 1750s • Many nations began to abolish the death penalty. E.g Venezuela (1853), Portugal (1867) and in the US, Michigan (1847)

30. Overview of the death penalty during 2003 Amnesty International recorded that at least • 1,146 prisoners were executed in 28 countries • 2,756 people were sentenced to death in 63 countries. • 84 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, the USA and Vietnam

31. Overview of the death penalty during 2003 Amnesty International recorded that • a total of 117 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. • 78 other countries retain and use the death penalty • Over 35 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes since 1990. (E.g S Africa, Mauritius, HK, Poland, Canada)

32. METHODS Electrocution

33. METHODS Lethal Injection

34. METHODS Shooting

35. METHODS BEHEADING

36. METHODS Hanging

37. ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY “The death penalty is a necessary tool to fight and detercrime. Capital punishment deters crime by causing would-be murderers to fear arrest and conviction and by preventingconvicted murderers from killing again. In recent years, violent crime in New York has dropped dramatically, due in part to the reinstitution of the death penalty.” George E. Pataki, Republican governor of NY

38. ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY “Obviously people fear death more than life imprisonment. Only death is final. Where there is life there is hope. Actual murderers feel that way: 99.9 per cent prefer life imprisonment to death. So will prospective murderers. What is feared most deters most.” Ernest van den Haag, Retired Professor at Fordham University

39. “The death penalty is a necessary tool to fight and deter crime. Capital punishment deters crime by causing would-be murderers to fear arrest and conviction and by preventing convicted murderers from killing again. In recent years, violent crime in New York has dropped dramatically, due in part to the reinstitution of the death penalty.” George E. Pataki, Republican governor of NY “Obviously people fear death more than life imprisonment. Only death is final. Where there is life there is hope. Actual murderers feel that way: 99.9 per cent prefer life imprisonment to death. So will prospective murderers. What is feared most deters most.” Ernest van den Haag, Retired Professor at Fordham University ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY Incapacitation deterrence

40. ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY “But even if an execution has only a small chance of deterring future murders, the murderer should be executed because he has, through his crime, forfeited his life. Capital punishment satisfies justice, and the fact that it may also save lives is enough to favour the execution of convicted murderers.” Ernest van den Haag, Retired Professor at Fordham University

41. ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY “For beyond deterrence … there is justice. The thought that the man who cruelly and deliberately slaughtered your child for fun or profit is entitled peacefully to live out his days at taxpayers’ expense, playing tennis or baseball or enjoying the prison library, is hard to stomach.”

42. “ But even if an execution has only a small chance of deterring future murders, the murderer should be executed because he has, through his crime, forfeited his life. Capital punishment satisfies justice, and the fact that it may also save lives is enough to favour the execution of convicted murderers.” Ernest van den Haag, Retired Professor at Fordham University “For beyond deterrence … there is justice. The thought that the man who cruelly and deliberately slaughtered your child for fun or profit is entitled peacefully to live out his days at taxpayers’ expense, playing tennis or baseball or enjoying the prison library, is hard to stomach.” ARGUMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY RETRIBUTION COST

43. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY “I think that the only purpose of the death penalty, as I see it, is vengeance-pure and simple vengeance. But I think vengeance is a very personal feeling and I don’t think it is something that civilized government should engage in.” Janet Reno, Attorney General of the US

44. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY “Capital punishment fails as a deterrent because murderers who premeditate about a killing do not expect to get caught, and spontaneous, emotional murderers are incapable of thinking rationally about the consequences of their act. Retributionalso fails as a reason to execute criminals because capital punishment violates a society’s self-respect and humanity, and it is not always possible in a court of law to fairly and unemotionally make the decision to execute someone. Michael Ross, “A View from Death Row” (Inmate convicted of murder in the deaths of 5 girls and a woman in 1987)

45. “I think that the only purpose of the death penalty, as I see it, is vengeance-pure and simple vengeance. But I think vengeance is a very personal feeling and I don’t think it is something that civilized government should engage in.” Janet Reno, Attorney General of the US “Capital punishment fails as a deterrent because murderers who premeditate about a killing do not expect to get caught, and spontaneous, emotional murderers are incapable of thinking rationally about the consequences of their act. Retribution also fails as a reason to execute criminals because capital punishment violates a society’s self-respect and humanity, and it is not always possible in a court of law to fairly and unemotionally make the decision to execute someone. Michael Ross, “A View from Death Row” (Inmate convicted of murder in the deaths of 5 girls and a woman in 1987) ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY barbaric Does not deter crime

46. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY “… capital punishment actually makes the fight against crime more difficult. Executions waste valuable resources that could be applied to more promising efforts to protect the public. Additionally, innocent people are sometimes executed and the brutalizing effect executions have on society may result in more murders. For these reasons, the death penalty should be opposed.” Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney Manhattan

47. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY “Capital cases are a nightmare for the entire justice system. Police chiefs recognize that death penalty cases are particularly burdensome in the early stages. Two-thirds of the police chiefs polled said that death penalty cases are hard to close and take up a lot of police time.” Richard C Dieter, Death Penalty Information Centre

48. “… capital punishment actually makes the fight against crime more difficult. Executions waste valuable resources that could be applied to more promising efforts to protect the public. Additionally, innocent people are sometimes executed and the brutalizing effect executions have on society may result in more murders. For these reasons, the death penalty should be opposed.” Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney Manhattan “Capital cases are a nightmare for the entire justice system. Police chiefs recognize that death penalty cases are particularly burdensome in the early stages. Two-thirds of the police chiefs polled said that death penalty cases are hard to close and take up a lot of police time.” Richard C Dieter, Death Penalty Information Centre ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY Innocent lives taken COST

49. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY “… …Additionally, innocent people are sometimes executed and the brutalizing effect executions have on society may result in more murders. For these reasons, the death penalty should be opposed.”

50. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY Brutalizing effect “… the death penalty tends to devalue human life and sends a message that tells citizens that killing people under some circumstances is appropriate.” “…state-sanctioned executions brutalize the sensibilities of society, making potential murderers less inhibited.” STATE-SANCTIONED MURDER?