A person from the United States goes on a vacation and commits a crime in another country. In America, they would be fined or sent to jail; in another country, they might be caned or shot. Which country should decide their fate? There have been many instances in the past and present where an individual commits a crime in another country and the argument arises as to whether that person should be brought to justice in that country or his/her home country because of the different punishments and ideals. Specific cases include a young man named Michael Fay who committed a crime in another country and was sentenced to a very harsh punishment. Did he deserve the punishment? Which country gets to make that call? Well those are all reasonable questions. …show more content…
Michael Fay committed an act of vandalism which is illegal in the United States, so why would it be okay to commit it anywhere else? The Singaporean government points out that the harsh punishments have helped keep order in the country. It also points out that fourteen other young men had been in the same situation as Michael and they all had to take responsibility for their actions. “The statement noted that in the past five years, fourteen young men aged 18 to 21, twelve of whom were Singaporean, had been sentenced to caning for vandalism.” (Reyes 143). This shows that Michael Fay wasn’t the only individual who committed the crime and needed to take the punishment. People are responsible for their actions whether or not they are knowingly committing crimes. All actions have consequences and the fact that America is trying to impose their ideals on Singapore and help Michael Fay to remain unpunished in …show more content…
The individual broke the law and there is no excuse for that, whether they were unaware or think they should be exempt because there are different laws elsewhere. They need to be brought to justice and the fact is, not everyone believes in the same things, resulting in different procedures and punishments. The Singaporean government points out that while their punishment may be harsh, it is a benefit to the greater part of society in the end. “Unlike some other societies which may tolerate acts of vandalism, Singapore has its own standards of social order as reflected in our laws. It is because of our tough laws against anti-social crimes that we are able to keep Singapore orderly and relatively crime-free.” (Reyes 143). This shows that America and Singapore operate from different perspectives. America pays a lot of attention to the rights of the individual while Singapore wants a safe and orderly country, which means different ways of disciplining. The fact is that Singapore has lower crime rates than America due to their harsh punishments. Caning may not be the most humane way of approaching something like vandalism, but it teaches the person a lesson and assures that they will think twice before they commit another
In Punished: policing the lives of black and Latino boys author Rios, victor. Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto in the Oakland, California in the 1980s. Rios, a former gang member and juvenile delinquency. Rios managed to escape this trend of gang violent as a teen; he managed to escape the gang violent lifestyle from his peers. He provides us a with a depth overview of a three-year study of 40 minority youths, 30 of whom were previously arrested. The study was done in Oakland, California. Rios give us a clear overview inner city young Latino and African American. Rios emphasize on the difficult lives of these young men, who are faced with policies in their schools, communities, and policing. Importantly, he gives us a clear understanding
In this article, a young American boy, Michael Fay, who lived in Singapore, was convicted of vandalism and was sentenced to a flogging. The author of this article, Mike Royko, was American, and was on Fay’s side, he thinks that a flogging is wrong.
Different countries have been known to deal with crime in different ways, some believe that we (Americans) should deal with criminals in a more serious and physical manner. In the article “Rough Justice A Caning in Singapore Stirs Up a Fierce Debate About Crime and Punishment” by Alejandro Reyes, it talks about how we should have more severe and physical punishment inside and outside of the U.S. After a teenage boy vandalizes a car in singapore. While in the editorial “Time to Assert American Values,” the writer attempts to persuade us and into thinking that the teenage boy, Michael Fey should not have been caned after vandalizing a car. After carefully analyzing the two texts, the reader realizes that the article “Rough Justice” has the
While caning is mandatory in cases of vandalism, rape and weapons offenses, it is also prescribed for immigration violations such as overstaying visas and hiring of illegal workers” (Reyes 182). By informing the reader of this, the author gives an example of how harsh the government’s laws are. Reyes states, “At dawn on May 13, six Malaysians were hanged for drug trafficking, bringing to seventeen the number executed for such offenses so far this year, ten more than the total number of prisoners executed in all of 1993” (Reyes 181). This gives an exact count of the offenses and the number of people hanged for their crimes, which informs the reader and allows them to form an accurate opinion on the topic.
All the laws, which concern with the administration of justice in cases where an individual has been accused of a crime, always begin with the initial investigation of the crime and end either with imposition of punishment or with the unconditional release of the person. Most of the time it is the duty of the members of constituted authorities to inflict the punishment. Thus it can be said that almost all of the punishments are an act of self-defense and an act of defending the community against different types of offences. According to Professor Hart “the ultimate justification of any punishment is not that it is deterrent but that it is the emphatic denunciation by the community of a crime” (Hart P.65). Whenever the punishments are inflicted having rationale and humane factor in mind and not motivated by our punitive passions and pleasures then it can be justified otherwise it is nothing but a brutal act of terrorism. Prison System: It has often been argued that the criminals and convicted prisoners are being set free while the law-abiding citizens are starving. Some people are strongly opposed the present prison and parole system and said that prisoners are not given any chance for parole. Prisons must provide the following results: Keep dangerous criminals off the street Create a deterrent for creating a crime The deterrent for creating a crime can be justified in the following four types Retribution: according to this type, the goal of prison is to give people, who commit a crime, what they deserved Deterrence: in this type of justification, the goal of punishment is to prevent certain type of conduct Reform: reform type describes that crime is a disease and so the goal of punishment is to heal people Incapacitation: the...
These places were filthy, brutal, and they spread disease. As corporal punishment came to be questioned as ineffective reforms started. There is more crime now than there was back then, because back then people who broke the law got physically punished then sent on their way. In 1998, Singapore was faced with similar problems that America is actually facing today: the rising numbers of prisoners, the overcrowding of the institutions, high recidivism, and trouble recruiting and retaining correctional officers. Singapore introduced a program where the guards were responsible for all prisoners ' human needs, their physical, emotional, spiritual, vocational, educational-and future success.
We are all faced with articles and news reports detailing crime occurring all over the world, crime that affects all types of communities, crime relating to religious, gender and age differences to name but a few. I have always paid close attention to the punishments handed out to criminals, in which I always seem to find myself debating on whether these punishments have been fair or are un just.
The world has been a scarier place to live with the increasing crime rates. Tough punishments and financial bail are being implemented to reduce the criminal acts. Capital punishment, or the death penalty is the harshest available government punishment for the big crimes like murder, terrorism, and others. Historically, Capital Punishment has been used in almost every parts of the world. Currently, the large majority of countries have either abolished or discontinued the practice. Several countries like Iraq, Pakistan, North Korea, China, and the USA retain the death penalty in both law and practice. It is legal in thirty-one states and illegal in nineteen states in the United States of America. Capital punishment has always been a debatable
...ssouri or the larger United States. Such crimes are prosecutable by law and the culprits have slim chances of getting off the hook with minimal penalties; judges as well as the larger judicial system have to bring to book fairly the perpetrators of such acts in the region.
Guernsey, J. B. (2010). Death penalty: fair solution or moral failure. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://books.google.com/books?id=38slHSsFFrgC&pg=PA125&dq=death+penalty+in+other+countries&hl=en&ei=F6dQTZHLBsm_tgfD7rHBCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=death%20penalty%20in%20other%20countries&f=false
Childhood Leta Stetter Hollingworth was a psychologist who was born on 25th May 1886 in Chadron Nebraska in the USA. Leta Hollingworth’s mother Margaret Elinor Danley died when she was giving birth to her little sister while Hollingworth was three years old. Her father John G. Stetter then abandoned Hollingworth and her two little sisters. She and her sisters therefore raised by their grandparents. Hollingworth’s father returned when she was 12 years old.
According to cases, the court in determining the punishment of the retribution whether it should be given to the accused or not, it depends to the offense involved. If the offense that should give capital punishment or in other word death penalty, then the punishment is the death penalty to the accused. However, the court will look at the proportionate with the crime. If it is not proportionate, then it will be injustice to the accused. Nevertheless, the important thing is the court will act for the benefit of the public interest.
Capital punishment is a custom in which prisoners are executed in accordance with judicial practice when they are convicted of committing a “capital crime.” Capital crimes are crimes considered so atrocious that they should be punishable by death. This may be done as an act of retribution, to ensure that the individual cannot commit future crimes, and/or as a deterrent for potential criminals. The practice is regarded as extremely controversial and is intensely debated around the world. Supporters may argue that a serious crime deserves an equally serious punishment, while opponents say that this is revenge rather than punishment. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes whose outcome is the death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. In the past, many countries have practiced capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, over two-thirds of the countries in the world – 139 – have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. 58 nations continue to practice it while eight have eradicated it for ordinary crimes, only maintaining it for special circumstances. The death penalty...
Every country or state has laws that are meant to govern its citizens. The laws are made following the societal moral obligations and the human rights consideration. At the societal level, the members of the society also have norms and rules that govern the behaviors of its members. However, due to the erroneous nature of human beings, instances of going against the societal, or public moral and legal expectation are always common thus the need for a way to tame some of the human behaviors. In trying to make the citizens law-abiding, different states have placed different punishment measures for various grades of crimes.
Offenses such as robbery, drug dealing, vandalism and DUI should be dealt with according to the number of crimes committed. Robbers and thieves should lose fingers, joint by joint. Multiple offenders should lose their hands. Drug dealers should be put to death by overdose of the drugs they peddled. Vandals should be dealt with in the same manner as in Singapore, caning. Multiple offenders should be beaten to death. Multiple offenders of the DUI laws should be killed by alcohol poisoning except in the case of vehicular homicide in which the offender should be put to good use... as a crash test dummy.