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writing for godot

Punishing crime

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Written by Walter Hecht   
Thursday, 23 January 2014 01:46
The British and others? believed that there was an inherited characteristic, possibly a gene, that criminals were born with, eliminating the possibility of rehabilitation. Rather than build humanitarian prisons, the British exiled their criminals to America. After we declared our independence and declined to accept any more British criminals, British prisons and prison ships filled to overflowing. Rather than rethink their theories of criminality, the British looked for another place to exile prisoners, and they selected Australia.

Botany Bay by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty, is the story of two men and one woman exiled to Botany Bay for highway robbery. The men were exiled for life and the woman for seven years as an accessory. The voyage to Australia killed many by scurvy or other illnesses due to diet and close quarters. To survive the journey required a strong constitution and friends in England who would purchase better food for the convict for the journey. In theory, once the term of transportation was served, convicts could return to England if they wished. In practice, exile was for life because England would not permit them to return.

To day we imprison with the goal of rehabilitation and return to a productive life in society. However, many view prison as a means of deterrence and punishment while we make a return to a productive life difficult. We should be returning the right to vote to all former prisoners at the same time we make employment easier to find by removing the stigma of imprisonment. If a person makes a mistake and pays his/her debt to society, it should be possible to return to full membership in our society. If we do less, we are emulating the former British system of exile from society for life.
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