Goals of Punishment Summary
The news article appeared in the New York Times on September 3, 2012 and the main theme was halting the execution of John Balentine, who was on the death row (Liptak, 2012).
Critics
The article critics the ability of the Supreme Court to halt death sentences against convicts. Additionally, it questions the credibility of the rules and procedures surrounding capital cases. Many a times, court justices use time as the deciding factor before executing convicts on the death row (Liptak, 2012). With the lack of standards on issues relating to sentencing and punishment in the United States, the goals and practices associated with sentencing will always come under scrutiny.
Alternatives
The article offers few alternatives that mainly involve deadline extensions to enable further review of the case in question. Justices ensure that the court allocates enough time to thought process before delivering judgments.
Thoughts
On matters concerning execution, I think rehabilitative approaches should be adopted to change the changing goals and views of sentencing. Acceptable ways of punishment criminals should be aimed at reducing the rate of crime by instilling fear rather than executing them. For this reason, I would suggest that rehabilitation, reformation, incapacitation, retribution, and specific deterrence should be the dominant goals of punishment.
Suggestions
The methods suggested will make criminals to sway from repeating criminal acts because such punishments eliminates the possibility of criminals committing the crimes. The federal government should propose new sentencing guidelines aimed at altering the criminal justice system. Such guidelines must be developed under judicial oversight but the goals of punishment must be tough enough to deter criminal approaches. Continued reformations in the criminal justice should be undertaken until a hybrid system of practices and policies relating to the execution of criminals is reached.
References
Liptak, A. (2012). To beat the execution clock, the Justices Prepare Early. The New
York Times Online. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/us/in-
capital-punishment-cases-weeks-go-into-deciding-last-minute-reprieves-
sidebar.html?_r=1
