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?

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

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