from CG
The point of any punishment is to punish the offender in a manner proportionate to the crime.
That is one purpose of punishment. It is not the only one. We live in a society. Another purpose of punishment is to deter others from following the behavior of the criminal. Throughout history, going back to the days of the Bible, public punishments carried out before the populace were partly done for this purpose. The USA is no different.
This is from the Wikipedia article on PUNISHMENT
Possible reasons for punishment
See also: Criminal justice
There are many possible reasons that might be given to justify or explain why someone ought to be punished; here follows a broad outline of typical, possibly contradictory justifications.
[edit]Rehabilitation
Main article: Rehabilitation (penology)
Some punishment includes work to reform and rehabilitate the wrongdoer so that they will not commit the offense again. This is distinguished not from deterrence, in that the goal here is to change the offender's attitude to what they have done, and make them come to see that their behavior was wrong. also
[edit]Incapacitation / Societal protection
Incapacitation is a justification of punishment that refers to when the offender’s ability to commit further offenses is removed. This is a forward-looking justification of punishment that views the future reductions in re-offending as sufficient justification for the punishment. This can occur in one of two ways; the offender’s ability to commit crime can be physically removed, or the offender can be geographically removed.
The offender’s ability to commit crime can be physically removed in several ways. This can include cutting the hands off a thief, as well as other crude punishments. The castration of offenders is another punishment that can be justified by incapacitation, furthered by recent media coverage in Britain of the proposed chemical castration of sexual offenders. Incapacitation, in this sense, can include any number of punishments including taking away the driving license of a dangerous driver but can also include capital punishment.
Despite this, incapacitation is predominately thought of as incarceration. Imprisonment has the effect of confining prisoners, physically preventing them from committing crimes against those outside, i.e. protecting the community. Before the widespread use of imprisonment, banishment was used as a form of incapacitation. Nowadays courts have a flexible array of sentence options available to them that can restrict offender’s movements, and subsequently their ability to commit crime. Football hooligans can, for example, be required to attend centres during football matches.
Selective incapacitation is a modified form of incapacitation that rationalises the practice of giving only dangerous and persistent offenders long, and in some case indefinite, prison sentences. The approach adopts a utilitarian viewpoint that regards the protection, and subsequent happiness, of the majority as justification of giving excessive and indefinite prison sentences. There is, however, strong moral opposition to this concept.
[edit]Deterrence / Prevention
To act as a measure of prevention to those who are contemplating criminal activity.
from CG
United States Constitution, Amendment Eight wrote:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
There's nothing in there about making an example out of anybody.
If anyone feels that their punishment is a violation of the US Constitition they can then appeal their case. The American Civil Liberties Union sometimes takes such cases at no financial cost to the appealant.
And there is nothing in there which says you cannot hope to deter others either. It is basic common sense. This is from the Wikipedia article on DETERRENCE
Deterrence is often contrasted with retributivism, which holds that punishment is a necessary consequence of a crime and should be calculated based on the gravity of the wrong done.
Deterrence can be divided into three separate categories.
Specific deterrence focuses on the individual in question. The aim of these punishments is to discourage the criminal from future criminal acts by instilling an understanding of the consequences.
General or indirect deterrence focuses on general prevention of crime by making examples of specific deviants. The individual actor is not the focus of the attempt at behavioral change, but rather receives punishment in public view in order to deter other individuals from deviance in the future. The argument that deterrence, rather than retribution, is the main justification for punishment is a hallmark of the rational choice theory and can be traced to Cesare Beccaria whose well-known treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), condemned torture and the death penalty and Jeremy Bentham who made two distinct attempts during his life to critique the death penalty.[1]