GENERAL
OBSERVATIONS
CHAPTER
I
It is an
error much too prevalent amongst the many, who have never though accurately
on the subject, that the final object of criminal jurisprudence, is
the punishment of the guilty. Persons, who entertain this sentiment,
are perfectly satisified if the criminal be but punished, without considering
whether his punishment be of any advantage either to the individual
himself ot to society at large. On their system, punishment is in fact
nothing more than legal vengeance. It must indeed be acknowledged, that
many of our own penal provisions, as they produce no other effect, appear
to have no other end, than the punishment of the guilty. If for instance,
a criminal be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, it too often happens
that no good results from the proceeding either to the sufferer or to
the public. The criminal gains nothing in prison but confirmation in
the habits of depravity; and he us afterwards turned out again upon
the public, fitted by the punishment of one crime, for the perpretation
of others. Thus both parties are losers.
It will
undoubtedly be evident to every reflective mind, that the end of criminal
jurisprudence is not the punishment of the criminal, but the prevention
of crime. Punishment, abstractedly considered, so far from being a desirable
object, is a real evil:- but it is a necessary evil; it is an act of
self-defence, by which every civilized society seeks a protection from
those outrages, which would otherwise terminate in its destruction.
There are
two ways, in which the punishment of offenders against society may operate
as a prevention of crime. First, by the fear, which it is calculated
to impress upon all those who, although they have not committed crime,
are exposed to the temptations, which lead into criminality. This fear
undoubtedly produces a very strong and a very general effect; and the
more certainly crime is followed by punishment, the surer and
more powerful does this effect become.
To ensure
the certainty of punishment, two things appear necessary; -
a vigorous and vigilant police, by which crime may be easily and immediately
detected; and penal laws formed on the principles of true justice, and
mild enough to be carried, without reserve, into constant execution.
The second
method, by which punishment may act as the preventative of crime, is
the reformation of criminals. The consideration will lead me
immediately to the subject, on which I am now desirous of stating my
sentiments; for the reformation of criminals is the true object of prison
discipline.
Prisons
ought to be conducted as to produce reform: they too often
are so conducted, as to be the very seminaries of crime.
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