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Free will & criminal justice

Within the criminal justice system, one of the most prominent justifications for legal punishment is retributivism. The retributive justification of legal punishment maintains that wrongdoers have free will, and are thus morally responsible for their actions and deserve to be punished in proportion to their wrongdoing.

Do you agree with that?
ninalanyon · 61-69, T Best Comment
No. Retribution is counter productive. Regardless of whether or not wrongdoers have free will, retribution does not serve to reduce the likelihood of reoffending nor does it do much to reduce the likelihood of offending in the first place.

Instead retribution confirms the criminal in his (or sometimes her) opinion that society is against him. It does nothing to turn them into productive members of society.

And in the places where deterrence would be most desired, for instance the US, even a death sentence or multiple life sentences without parole fails to deter people from murder.

Just because a person is morally responsible for their crime and deserves punishment it does not follow that that applying that punishment is in the best interests of society as a whole

If I go to your house, rob you, rape your wife, steal all your shit..... you okay with that ?? what you gonna do ??? wave, as Im riding away in your car ?? LOL
Wol62 · 51-55, M
@SheCallsMeCrushDaddy Philosophers have pondered this one for centuries. But does your reply really prove you have free will?
@Wol62 No..... its just my opinion. do you think Hitler had free will ?? did he kill those jews, or was something else leading him to do it ?? if we dont have free will, none of us can be responsible for anything we do.
Wol62 · 51-55, M
@SheCallsMeCrushDaddy I guess that is what they have been debating about for the last 3000 years.
Bados · 100+, M
Wol62 · 51-55, M
@Bados Awesome! Not sure whether to give you the best answer for this.

 
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