Crime and Punishment in Various Countries Essay

Five Works Cited The effectiveness of the join States bend legal strategy has been questi singled and scrutinized by the media and legal analysts for decades. Even with laws to lengthen sentences and to try younger offenders as adults, the over wholly(a) plague rate in the nation is still on the rise. But why is it that in interjects identical Iceland and swell of capital of capital of Singapore abomination rate argon so low yet both countries have precise contrasting evil laws? It has been brought to my attention that Congress exit attempt to piddle an entire new criminal legal system for the states to adopt in an effort to finally make the streets of America safer for its citizens. Assuming that all states will forfeit their own policies to take up the system Congress builds, it is my debt instrument to shed light on the criminal legal system and differing views of the unify States and an separate(prenominal) countries legal systems and differing views of the United States and other countries of different regimes, geographies, and legal systems. I will to a fault explore the common ground they share when prosecuting criminal offenders. The information I will discover will be taken into context by legislators when designing a new and improved criminal justice system.It is first important to take a close experience at the crime rate occurring in America. The United States has more citizens in prison house than any other boorish. The incarceration rate of the U.S. is second still to Russia with 666 incarcerated per 100,000. The U.S. constitutes one third of the worlds world that is imprisoned opus it and makes up five percent population. (Fathers Manifesto) The criminal legal system is slightly different in e real state. For example, only cardinal eight states practice capital penalization while the other dozen employ life imprisonment with no parole as an utility(a) to congealting serious offenders to death. The death penalty in th e United states is one of the most(prenominal) criticized policies in American society. Under the Constitutions one-eighth amendment, Americas are protected against cruel and unusual penalization.While it does non clear define what penalty is deemed cruel and unusual, several campaigns argue that capital punishment is cruel and unusual and is a direct violation of human rights. Organizations like Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights group, claims that capital punishment is not only inhumane, except it does not deter crime more effectively in comparison to other punishments notinvolving death. (Amnesty International) Other studies have proven that it in fact costs up to common chord times more to put a person to death that it does to sentence life in prison with no parole. A Texas death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for forty years.(Hoppe 1A)Yet, with a ll the polls, statistics, and studies conducted to discourage the practice of the death penalty in the United States, other nations have embed the death penalty, as well as other harsh punishments, is not a violation to human and civil rights, but an effective tool in keeping public safety. Singapores criminal laws are some of the most extreme and consistent laws found in all of the world. Its government still employs the use of corporal punishment for some offenses that would receive a mere parole sentence in the U.S. Singapores citizens have stated that even though its punishments are severe and outrageous to some, their streets are safer, cleaner, and the quality of life in Singapore is valued more because of these punishments. In this country the punishments that undergo heavy cross give the axe in the U.S. are swiftly carried out and as a result, crime in Singapore is significantly lower in comparison to the U.S. crime rates. (Fathers Manifesto) There is a consistent mandatory death sentence for hypnagogic offenders.A death sentence is also immediately carried out for anyone who opens fire while committing an unlawful act whether or not you shoot anyone or anything is not taken into consideration. (Singapore Law FAQ) Caning is another form of punishment carried out for crimes such as vandalism and sex offenses. Convicts are strapped to a trestle and the exposed buttocks of the offender are flogged by a militant arts expert. The caning is usually coupled with a prison sentence. Singapores officials argue that its strict laws and swift, severe punishment are what sets it aside from a crime-ridden place like New York City. (Fathers Manifesto)Of course, opponents to CP (corporal punishment) argue that this is also a cruel and unusual way to deter crime.However, those that argue this only need to compare the crime rates of Singapore to those of the United States. lather or caning is indeed stressful and painful but it is Singapores alternative to costly long-term confinement. This way criminals are speedily reformed and released back into society as law abiding citizen. some other factor to be considered in Singapores low crime rate is its geography and its size. The country is located northeast of Indonesia just southeast of Malaysia. It is roughly 3.5 times the size of Washington D.C. It is arguable to say that the moderateness Singapores crime rates are low compared to the U.S. is because of its small, controllable area.But is the size of a nation or governed land a factor in determining its crime rate? Take into consideration the territory of Puerto Rico. It is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean well smaller than Singapore. However, Puerto Ricos reach rate is more than three times higher than that of the U.S. (National Center) The sharp contrast between a place like Puerto Rico and Singapore and the U.S. is that while citizens of the U.S. and Singapore enjoy a high standard of living, over half of Puerto Ricos pop ulation earns less than US$ 11,000 a year. This brings us to another question in this research. Does a socioeconomic factor playa role in a countrys crime rate? Another interesting tidbit is that capital punishment does not exist in Puerto Rico. Their courts are set up similar to those of Singapore. A magistrate judge is the one who hears the case, decides the verdict and de ragingrs the sentence.The prisons in Puerto Ricoare, for the most part, run by gangs, dilapidated, infested with insects and pose a serious health curse to inmates. (Penal Lexicon) The prison system has been under the watchful eye for the drastic and costly changes not only for the prisons, but for juvenile treatment centers, discipline measures and improvements in mental health care. The brutality of violence and disease in prisons come out like enough to prevent anyone from committing a crime that would result in jail time. Unfortunately, even with the abolishment of capital punishment and the anarchy in pri sons, Puerto Rico is notorious for holding one of the worlds highest murder rate. (Penal Lexicon)After completing the criminal legal system of three haphazard governments, it is interesting to see how each handles the ever- present demon called crime. When will there be a system that can effectively prevent crime and correct offenders without severe, barbaric tactics and without corruption and anarchy? When researching the topic on criminal legal systems, Ive found that different countries have very different beliefs in which they value the life of a human. One country, the United States, will go the extra mile to find the best practicable defense for its accused.Another, Singapore, will torture and beat confessions from its suspects while the other, Puerto Rico, casts its criminals into a madhouse practically operated by those society has thrown away. The common ground all three nations share is their never-ending struggle to provide its citizens with the means to live a li fe that is safe, meaningful and without fear of danger. Back in America, our government will continue to brainstorm ideas to eliminate crime in our streets and neighborhoods.