Role of Punishment in the Criminal Justice System

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Edward Romero Professor Blay AJ 101 22 Oct 2014 Role of punishment in the Criminal Justice System Since the birth of our country non-law abiding citizens have plagued our society which led to the creation and development of our criminal justice system that administers punishment for any crimes committed with-in our society. Punishment for crimes committed is utilized by the criminal justice system as a deterrence that can result in less crimes being committed in the future. The criminal justice system ensures that the correct punishment handed down to a defendant is appropriate for the crime committed which in turn shows future lawbreakers that their crimes will not be tolerated and will be dealt with appropriately. Depending on the crime committed, the evidence collected and how it is presented to a jury of our peers the defendant is usually sentenced to incapacitation (incarceration/capital punishment) or rehabilitation. The criminal justice system ensures that everyone that commits a crime is punished as a result of the crime they commit. The prison system (incapacitation) was initially developed to keep offenders off the streets thus preventing them from committing crimes in the community resulting in the reduction of crime rates. Capital punishment is also part of the prison system were it is carried out but, in society not everyone feels that criminals should receive the death penalty for a murder they committed. People also believe that capital punishment does not in any way deter future murders committed by other criminals. According to the article “The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Murder,” Hentoff says, “statistics [show] that the murder rate in states with the death penalty is higher than the murder rate in states without capital punishment.” (2004) On the other hand in the article “The Death Penalty Deters Murder,” the author says, “by removing a
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