Should bad people be punished?

Bad people, to me, are going to be those who cross the line and step all over morals and what is really considered right or wrong... child molesters, rapists, murderers, etc... most times, these people don't reform and will repeat offend whenever given the chance. Something inside of them doesn't click the same way it does with the rest who refuse to cross that line.

When punishments really meant something... were a lot harsher than they are now, people may have been deterred from doing some of the things they do now. As it is now, criminals are treated quite well and have more than some people. They have televisions, air conditioning, free programs that citizens normally would pay for, meals served daily ( nice meals compared to some people), etc... Check into what jails and prisons are really like now... a lot of people suffer no hardship at all being in a prison or jail and feel right at home.

http://www.strengthtech.com/correct/laws/states/ok...

Phillips said he's talked to people who are outraged that prisoners have televisons, exercise equipment and commissaries.

That is one statement made in the link coverage I posted above. What's so terrible about jail, prison and supposed punishment anymore? They get more benefits and rewards than many decent, poor people do.

prison sentence is just plain punishment - it's not educating; but it can make criminals become worse by letting stay side by side, get bullied, get crime education, etc.

punishment is necessary with or without expecting to make criminals become good but rather to fear of the punishment itself so by fearing the punishment, they wouldn't reoffend. but this expectation fails the society when the punishment is negligible or insignificant. i don't mean criminals should get severe punishment unless they don't show certain sign of commonsense.

The problem is law cannot discriminate between who has commonsense or not. Although the judges might be able to guess if a certain criminal has that sort of conscience, they cannot be allowed to judge this way as it can lead to mistakes etc.

So the law-enforcement body and the governments and the civil right groups have to deal this issue somehow which I cannot (better not) say what they should do.

But there is a view that actual education system in jail (just the way the Philippino criminals danced the Moon-Walk) might work. And now in US they have to wear pink, live in pink cells (and all walls painted pink?).

I think both good and bad people should be punished if they commit a crime. If they aren't then there's no point in having a legal system.

That being said, I think the whole good/bad or right/wrong thing is little more than popular opinion. Times change and people's ideas change right along with them. Then the laws get changed because people think differently. Recent examples of this are women's right to vote, prohibition and then ending prohibition, and the movement to legalize pot.

Since the laws change with the people's ideas it's easy to become of a criminal if you disagree with popular belief. Not that disagreeing is a crime but if you dont think what you're doing is wrong, it's easier to do it even though you might get caught. I think that be part of the puzzle of reoffending.

The reason so many of them re offend is that the law turns them into hardened criminals by putting them in prison and making them spend a lot of time with people who have done worse things. I think it depends what you're definition of good and bad is. If they do something slightly wrong I think they should be warned. If they do something terrible (such as murdering someone) I think they should be kept in some sort of solitary confinement. This way they will not be turned into hardened criminals. However I don't think anyone should be killed. We all have the right to a life and people's lives can be turned around. If you give someone the death penalty for killing a person or group of people it makes you a Hypocrite.

Theoretically speaking it is wrong to punish bad people on earth as it says in the Bible to let God be the judge and we neighbors of that person must turn the other cheek however in this day ad age if the person is a danger to the public it is best in most cases to punish them with a prison sentence until if ever they are rehabilitated.

It all depends on the person's interpretation of 'bad' as a bad person in our eyes at this present time may have been a good person in the past e.g, to the Germans at that time, Hitler may have been as an influential person (due to what he'd said in his manifesto) however over time, people see him as a bad person

I think a bad person- someone who has harmed others intentionally and in a brutal or destructive way should defo be punished but some punishments may never work on some people as they don't give a crap and feel the need 2 cause destruction without thinking about the consequences of their actions as their wrapped up in the idea of thinking about themselves and fufilling their desires. I think this is way they re offend.

We punish them jailing and during that time it is supposed we are trying to reform them. Specialists in matter say that a psychopathic will never be reformed due to their damaged brain but after some time they are released. Similarly it happens with rapists or paedophiles. It is a great task to reform them and in the most of the cases they are also released when conviction has been ended.

What would constitute as being "bad"?

And many times, prisoners reoffend because of the security of prison. They get free meals, a place to stay, etc.

As many others have stated, it's all a matter of degree.

Our current system has many flaws

and is not tough enough on the worst criminals.

And in that group of "worst criminals" ...

I would include many of the lawyers and judges!

It takes a great deal of true wisdom to sit in judgment of others

(and plenty of common sense).

I've heard it said somewhere that "death is far too convenient for the truly wicked"

and then there's always that old saying that "the punishment should fit the crime."

Too many times, it doesn't.

It all depends on what is considered good or bad. In general I believe in reformation and find the death-penalty to be barbaric. In the worst cases most get off anyway because they are considered insane. Some people need to be given a second chance, for the good reason that they never had a real first one anyway.