Issues in Criminal Jutice History: Crime and Punishment - Essay Example

 The most important changes in forms and ideas of punishment in the century after 1700 Introduction What do you think about the “Bloody Code” of 1700s, taken into the context of our modern times? Was the underlying punishment of death execution justifiable based on the crimes committed? Was it humane or was there really no consideration for human rights since discriminations were the rule of law? These questions came to mind as specific issues to deal with in the discussion of the most important changes in forms and ideas of punishment in the century after 1700. Issues of capital punishment – the Bloody Code First, let us have a background of the nature of the Bloody Code. The Bloody Code is the term used to refer to the English legal system during 17th and 18th centuries. It is described in “Crime and Punishment in Durham” as a system wherein any crime could be considered as punishable by death that includes even minor offenses. Some of these crimes carrying death sentences are “cutting down trees, stealing horses or sheep, pick pocketing goods worth more than one shilling, being out at night with a blackened face, unmarried mother concealing a stillborn child, stealing from a rabbit warren.” There are also crimes like murder, arson that could justify death penalty. As per record, the number of crimes punishable by death kept on growing as in 1815, there were 225 as compared to 1765 that had 160 and in 1688 with 50 crimes. What I believe untenable during this period were the reasons behind the “bloody code” implementation. These were discriminations of the rich to poor as the wealthy at that time were unsympathetic to the poor. The rich believed that those who committed crimes do not deserve mercy as they were lazy, sinful or greedy. (Crime & Punishment). Following this rationale, does it mean that the rich at that time do not commit sin, and they are exemptions from the “bloody code” rule? So it seems that at that time, the rich were the rulers of the land, since they made laws that protected their interests, and made sure that any act that threatened their wealth and property were answerable by death. The Bloody Code I believe was also untenable as it was harshly done and executed in front of many people. It was said to be done intentionally by police authorities as a means to discourage people to commit crimes. Crimes & Punishment described the execution as something like a spectacle in 1800s wherein crowds gathered to watch and the rich even rented balconies to get a better view. The Bloody Code spurred corruption, unfair trials and punishment and did not work fairly well. This assumption is based on record (Crimes & Punishment) that said trials lasted only for few minutes and often times did not give a chance for the defense of the accused; on the other hand, rich can afford legal representations and could pay character witnesses. There were also cases that juries were unwilling to give a verdict to the accused knowing that it will mean death, thus undervaluing the case. Changes in form of punishment Public sentiments led to the change of heart in the continued use of the Bloody Code system that found the scheme to be too harsh for the crime committed. The public’s interest to crime and punishment led to putting into action other alternate forms of punishments. (The Bloody Code) The religious sector was also influential in coming up with lightened sentences for criminal offenses. According to the Moral and Influences, the Roman Catholic Church introduced incarceration to help convicts repent for their sins. Other religious denominations followed this idea and have spread to Protestants in the Northern Europe wherein correction facilities were established in the late sixteenth century. Further changes were made for the Catholics when in 1703; Pope Clement XI separated the youth offenders from adults and introduced rehabilitation. Perhaps, this could be seen as the emergence of juvenile justice system. Following these changes, use of death penalty for less serious crimes lessened. Hence, only fines and imprisonment were levied to offenders committing crimes of swearing, trouble-making, drunkenness, sexual crimes and vagrancy. Inflicting body pain and humiliation were also decided to offenders such as whipping, “pelting in the pillory and ducking stool” while imprisonment were confined to debtors. Humiliation was shown in branding someone as criminal such as putting a mark in the skin, chopping off a limb, arm or leg, (Crime & Punishment) Custody and control in prison But because of abolition of death penalty, prison cells became congested; and for those incarcerated, they felt execution was a better sentence. In order to think that way, it could be fairly concluded that prison conditions were intolerable. The accounts in Crime & Punishments said that prisoners were herded into unsegregated cells where men and women were kept together; cells had no heating, no water and toilet facilities. It was a life in prison that the strong man ruled, wherein possessions were stolen, and inmates fought with each other. Prisons were run by private organizations for profit and prisoners had to pay for their food and for their release; prisoners were also charged fees for lodging, bedding and space. Health conditions in prison were also desperate that led to 500 deaths due to typhoid disease per record of Crime & Punishment. Equating this number to the number of executions which was only 200, one could be convinced that death is a better sentence. The Transportation Act In the light of prison conditions, what were the alternatives of the government? Vaver, 2008, in his study, said the jail congestions became a big problem of the British government, and they had to come up with a better solution than death and incarceration. The government sensed that their present law did not put off people to commit crimes such as burglary and larceny. At this point, the British government thought of sending jailed criminals to join the British army or navy, or transporting them to any of the British colonies in America, Canada and in Australia. Thus, the Transportation Act was enacted in 1718 whose provisions were “For the Further Preventing of Robbery, Burglary and Other Felonies, and For the More Effectual Transportation of Felons, and Unlawful Exporters of Wool; and For the Declaring the Law upon Some Points Relating to Pirates.” Under this Act, convicted offenders were removed from the streets and jails and were transported overseas to a British colony At that time, there was a great need for laborers in America, and the British government saw this as an opportunity to solve the problem of decongestion of jails. Vaver said that many settlers in America during that period desperately needed cheap labor, and the transported convicts filled their need for labor. Women prisoners were also distressed as there were no segregations, they got pregnant willfully in order to be released to get transportation sentence which they felt was a better alternative. (Crime & Punishment) The Transportation Act became a better punishment alternative from then on as it banished convicted felons in jails and rid the country of undesirable elements. Reports said (Crime & Punishment) that about one-third of all criminals convicted from 1786 to 1867 were transported to Australia and Tasmania. Records of Vaver also showed that there were approximately 50,000 number of people convicted with crimes transported to America and was counted as a quarter of all British immigrants to this country during the 18th century. The Transportation Act was applied to two kinds of offenses. First is for lighter offense, who will be sentenced to 7 years of transportation instead of whipping and branding punishments. The second goes to more serious offenses whose normal punishment is execution, will be sentenced to 14 years or more, including life. A convicted person who had been sentenced to transportation and who will return without finishing his term will be given a punishment of automatic death sentence (Vaver) Conclusion. The question that left unanswered before the Transportation Act, is: “Was it a better plan to have an execution or to have an incarceration?” under the conditions that prevailed at that time. Justice was not fair for those incarcerated because of absence of human rights, decency, and health conditions of prisons. Prisoners could not afford to pay to for food and shelter that were required from them, and in the end, it is only for the sake of profit for prison operators. One could only imagine the pitiful conditions of the prisoners inside those cells specially the poor who did not have any means to pay for their subsistence. But who could ever say that prisoners’ conditions were improved by the Transportation Act? They were sent to British colonies as laborers, and from our history books, they worked as slaves. Slaves had no freedom, no properties and remained poor. These conditions are in effect a pursuit of “Bloody Code” that perpetuated the sentences of prisoners for even small offense they committed, or better yet, life sentence rather than death. w.c. 1509 List of works cited Crime and Punishment in Durnham, 1750-1900. n.d. The Bloody Code. Available at http://www.dur.ac.uk/4schools/Crime/Bloodycode.htm [Accessed 13 August 2010] Crime and Punishment in Durnham, 1750-1900. n.d. What were prisons like at this time?. Available at[Accessed 13 August 2010] Moral and Religious Influences – Execution Methods, 2003. Available at: Moral and Religious Influences - Execution Methods Read More