fandomhigh | Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #15, Apr 20]

"Welcome to our last class together," Alex said, offering her students a light smile. "I'll be honest: I've really enjoyed our conversations this semester. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about justice, and thank you for your insights and perspectives on all the subjects we've covered. They've been nothing short of fascinating."

She gestured to the stack of papers on her desk. "This, of course, is your final. It's structured just like the midterm was. You can use anything you may have brought with you, but you shouldn't need to. You cannot work with your classmates, and I'll ask that you not talk to one another until all exams have been handed in. Even if you and your friend are both finished, the next person over might not be, and your conversation could be a distraction.

"Once you've handed in your exam, you're free to leave. Or, if you'd rather, you can stick around and tell me what you thought of class -- what I did wrong, what I did right, anything like that. But for now, you've got finals to complete. Good luck, and show me what you know."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Certain justice systems forbid cruel and unusual punishment, that is, any legal redress which is viewed to be needlessly painful, humiliating, or degrading. Give one example of punishment that would qualify as being cruel and/or unusual, and one which does not.

Bod tapped his pen against his paper before he got started writing. I don't think imprisoning someone for the duration of their life is cruel and unusual punishment. If they've committed a heinous crime, then they deserve to spend the rest of their life feeling guilty, thinking about that, and being safely incarcerated so they cannot wreck another life.

I think stoning someone might be cruel and unusual though. I know it's not a widely used practice but, from what I've read, parading someone out in the middle of a town and throwing rocks at them until they die sounds unnecessarily cruel and painful. It shouldn't be done.

Ben gave Alex an education on carbonite freezing as his example of cruel and unusual punishment (figuring that Force-choking and lightning-from-fingers was a little Dark Jedi specific), and then explained the use of entire planets as prisons for the normal procedure used at home.

Forcing someone to do community service by cleaning up a park they'd littered or graffiti'd isn't cruel and unusual; it addresses their specific crime, and arranges for them to mitigate some of the harm they did.

Forcing someone to breathe a hallucinogenic gas compound to the point of near-death and insanity, as they'd done to others, is cruel. And unusual. And the state should not use that as a method of punishment. The state has to be better than its criminals, or we all turn into a criminal society.

Using it on someone to get them to cooperate and explain where they'd hid a terrorist bioweapon, as Batman reportedly had, was both, but also... maybe necessary at that moment.

Gotham got the defenders it deserved.

Cruel and unusual punishment are defined by the culture. In the middle ages, putting someone in the stocks and having them pelted with fruit was not seen as humiliating for a petty thief; now it is.

In this time and place, it seems as though execution via public hanging is seen as cruel and unusual due to the degradation and pain involved, while execution by the use of drugs is not.

In Kaeleer, one of the punishments for attempted sexual assault by a male is the use of a Restraining Ring. That Ring comes with another, a Controlling Ring, which allows the wearer to inflict pain at will, whether to control the other person's behavior or simply on a whim. This is no different that slavery, save for the limited duration and gives far too much power to the wearer of the Controlling Ring. Additionally, the Controlling Ring can be passed to others, making this less about justice and more about vengeance.

A swift and painless execution for rape, on the other hand, especially when the assault results in a witch being broken, is neither cruel nor unusual. It both suits the severity of the crime and is a much kinder fate than the one the victim is facing. Again, however, the execution cannot be drawn out or in anyway demeaning.

Torture would be an example of cruel and unusual punishment, and so would be execution. Something that isn't is putting someone in jail, as long as they aren't treated too badly while they're there.

This was hard. What was cruel and unusual in one situation was possibly perfectly justified in another.

I think maybe cutting off someone's hand if they steal something is totally cruel and unusual punishment. But making them work in the store until they paid for what they stole wouldn't be, if they couldn't pay it back in the first place.

Concepts of Justice and The Law [Period 4, Class #15, Apr 20]

Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15

Re: Question 3: Cruel and Unusual Punishment - JST15