Essays on Retributive Justice

The discussion, whether free will exists, persists in philosophy for centuries. Numerous arguments were put forth by both determinists and libertarians. And while the aim of these arguments is to prove either of the viewpoints, the question of why exactly should either of them be proven and their practical consequences are not less important. In this paper, I will argue against the existence of free will in a libertarian sense, explain the consequences of libertarian and determinist positions and tell why I found this topic particularly interesting. The debates around free will mostly address the free will which is ...

The U.S criminal justice system faces a myriad of challenges, particularly within the last two decades. The prison and penitentiary population reached its optimal level and parole and probation numbers over-doubled. For instance, in 2009 seven million Americans were put under supervision either by federal or state criminal justice systems. These high numbers of offenders under supervision are an indication of the systemic failures in the criminal justice system (Robinson 31). There are two main classifications of criminal justice systems in America, the state and federal criminal justice system. These two systems play a role in identification and prosecution ...

Justice is the principle and the process of being fair, righteous and equitable (Tonry, M. H., 2011). It is concerned with the result of using the law somewhat so as to punish and judge criminals and their crimes. Justice comes in different types. These are customary adversarial, retributive justice, and restorative justice. Retributive justice emphasizes on finding a wrongdoing and punishing it. It stresses that a crime deserves a penalty as long as it is an equal reaction to the offense committed (Van, Strong, 2013). Conversely, restorative justice aims at rehabilitating the victim, the offenders and the community that ...

Introduction

The way how a correctional department handles inmates may vary from state to state. However, these state correctional departments may have something in common. Australian and British correction department authorities usually assign incarcerated individuals in areas that require human resources for community services, public projects and other civic-related works . Now what makes this idea great? Is it beneficial? Can it be considered ethical or a direct violation of human rights? Either way, that is what this presentation will be all about.

Community Service Sentencing among Low Risk Inmates

Some sources argue that community service cannot really be termed as a punishment because it is not something you assign to ...

There are differences on the correctional systems in different countries. For instance, some countries openly advocate for death sentence while others do not. For instance countries like Mozambique, Cape Verde, Namibia, Angola and south Africa have abolished death sentence for all crimes. Others which enable death sentence are In the US crime, for which the death sentence can be imposed include; murder related to smuggling of foreigners, murder as a result of a drug shoot-out, killing a congress member, murder associated with the transportation of explosives, among others.

Death sentence in the US serves two main purposes; “retribution” and “deterrence” ( ...

A growing number of probation officers, judges, prosecutors as well as other juvenile professionals are advocating for a juvenile justice system which is greatly based on restorative justice. These groups of people have been frustrated by the policy uncertainty between retribution and treatment as well as unrealistic and unclear public expectations. As a primary mission, the balanced approach or policy allows juvenile justice systems together with its agencies to improve in their capacity of protecting the community and ensuring accountability of the system and the offenders. It enables the youths to become productive and competent citizens. This guiding philosophical framework for ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

Book: The count of Monte Cristo The Count of Monte Cristo is a novel written by Alexandre Dumas and was first published in the year 1844. The plot of the story was expanded by Dumas in collaboration with ghostwriter Auguste Maquet. Along with the ‘Three Musketeers’, this novel is one of the most anthologized works of Dumas, and as critics opine the novel has become a permanent fixture of Western literature. Dumas was a French novelist and dramatist, and during his lifetime he produced a number of literary outputs like dramas, novels, memoirs, travelogues and historical studies. Mostly self-educated, Dumas actively ...

Crime is about much more than a law being broken and there are generally multiple parties affected by a crime, including a victim or victims, so justice must involve both the criminal as well as parties to most effectively ensure that justice is obtained. This belief is at the core of the restorative justice approach. Proponents of the restorative justice approach find flaws in conventional mainstream criminal justice practices and advocate a more comprehensive approach. Conventional criminal justice can make citizens or victims feel powerless and apathetic and there is, according to Umbreit and Peterson Armour (2010, p.1), “an overreliance on punishment ...

Introduction

Oresteia is a trilogy pitting Greek tragedies that are written by Aeschylus. The trilogy concerns the closing stages of the curse that was cast in the House of Atreus. In its original sense, Oresteia referred to the four plays. However, in the contemporary world, it refers to the surviving trilogy. The primary theme in the trilogy is the change of the pursuit of personal vendetta to a new system that incorporates litigation. The name Oresteia is derived from the character of Orestes, who in a bout on anger and thirst for revenge pursues the revenge of his father’s murder. Throughout the ...

Sleepers is an American legal drama film written, produced and directed in 1996 by Barry Levinson. This movie is based on the book written by Lorenzo Carcaterra. This movie is about four boys who got involved with the criminal justice system due to their reckless behavior in name of a joke on a hot dog vendor. They decided to knock off a hot dog vendor just because they were bored. Shakes ran off with a hot dog making the hot dog vendor to chase him. While he was chasing Shakes, Michael, John, and Tommy started feasting on the remaining hot dogs since the ...

Capital Punishment or death penalty in the simplest and the most lucid form can be defined as a legally permitted killing of someone as punishment after a thorough and proper legal trial. Whether death penalty should be abolished or not is a long going debate and the recent hanging of Ajmal Kasab, a terrorist involved in attacks on Mumbai in India on 26 November 2008, has kicked off the debate again and on a very fierce note. Though the capital punishment is meant to punish a criminal for his/her crime, it is considered the most barbaric and inhuman way of punishment and should be condemned ...