Japanese Education

1) (Criminal Justice in America

pp. 168-171.) Write down 5 key points.

Restitution is where the offender pays the victim or community in either money or service. Many people say that paying of the victim or community with money, or service does not pay for what the crime the offender committed.

The society also believes in retribution, an eye for an eye. By imposing punishment we are able to stop more crimes from happening, and it is a way to get even with the criminals. Those against retribution say it does nothing for the criminals, addresses no serious issues, and does not protect the innocent.

Society wants to reform and treat the criminals. Advocates for rehabilitation say that criminals should be turned from lawbreakers to people who could be productive in society. For this the prison must provide psychological counseling and job training.

Incapacitation keeps society safe by keeping the criminals isolated from it. Keeping prisoners in prison makes it impossible for them to commit further crimes. This however is only temporary, because eventually the prisoners will be released.

Deterrence prevents further crimes from occurring. There are two different kinds of deterrence, specific deterrence, and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is for the criminals in question. The hope is that the memory of the punishment will stop the criminal from committing more crimes. General deterrence is for potential criminals. Those that have not committed a crime will see the punishment and will be discouraged from committing a crime.

In Colonial America those who committed a minor crime would suffer public humiliation. A few of the ways they humiliated the criminals was by standing them in the public square, feet locked up in a stock. Or hands locked up in a pillory. Sometimes they had symbols of the crime, that they were forced to wear, such as A for adultery. A public whipping or branding punished more serious crimes. A few of the colonies had jails to keep those accused in, as they waited for a trial. Many jailkeepers ran the jails for profit. The inmates had to pay to get their own food and blankets. Many poor inmates died before they had a trial, others were hired to work on building roads and working farms.

Failure of solitary confinement led to the idea of having the inmates do work instead of keeping them isolated. With this new system, workers were kept confined during the night, but during the day they worked together in prison shops and ate in common dinning halls. Rules did not allow the prisoners to talk among each other. The rules were then changed and the prisoners were allowed to talk. This system became popular with many states, and is still in use to this day. Inmates learn to operate simple machines, and to manufacture items like furniture for offices.

In 1877 the rehabilitation program was first tried in an Elmira youth reformatory. Elmira gave the younger offenders school classes, vocation training, health care, and counseling. When the young criminals showed that they were ready to be released, they were let go. Many other youth reformatories tried this new system too. By 1918, doctors, psychologists and social workers were being brought to help rehabilitate adult inmates. Many states set up a separate prison for dangerous prisoners, low risk prisoners, women, drug addicts, and the criminally insane. Rehabilitation became wildly used in many American prisons.

2) Read pp. 172-175. Answer the 5 discussion questions on page 174-175.

1) The most important sentencing factor is the crime. Without the crime it is impossible to sentence someone, and without knowing the severity of the crime, you cannot punish someone fairly. The least important factor in sentencing is the offender's attitude. Many people will react in different way to a circumstance. It is hard to tell if someone who is not acting remorseful is, because that person might be good at keeping his emotions to himself. On the other hand, someone who shows that he is remorseful may just be putting on an act for the public, the jury, and the judge.

2) One other factor the judge should consider is if the offender's family has a history of crime or violence. One factor the judge should not consider is the offender's race because that shows bigotry.

3) The difference between a fixed and indeterminate sentence is that with an indeterminate sentence a prisoner is able to get out of jail sooner then his release date if he tries to reform and shows remorse. A criminal who reforms while imprisoned would be let out sooner then one who does not. A fixed sentence does not allow the prisoner an early release. The judge sentences a specific time of imprisonment. In states that have a fixed sentence they also offer alternatives such as suspended sentences, time in local jail, time served on weekends, and community service. The argument for the indeterminate sentence is that prisoners, who reform faster, should be rewarded and allowed to be released a little sooner, after serving part of the sentence. Arguments against it state that it is unfair because one person who did the same crime as someone else might get shorter sentences then the other person. Advocates for a fixed sentence say that criminals should pay restitution for what they did, and not let the punishment be cut short. A fixed sentence is fairer because it gives people that committed the same crime, the same time in prison without cutting the punishment short.