Introduction

The essays in this section deal with the problems associated with how we as a society punish offenders.  The extent to which we execute and incarcerate offenders exceeds every other country in the world, with the exception that a few Third World dictatorships may use the death penalty more (mostly because of the number of times they execute dissidents).  As for incarceration rates, we stand head and shoulders above the rest of the world, with an overall rate of over 700 per 100,000, compared to a world average of around 80 to 90.

The essays here start with a lengthy essay about the death penalty, then turns to the controversial issue of applying the death penalty to juveniles and the mentally retarded.  Research dating back at least 60 years demonstrates the fact that the death penalty is not a deterrent and that it tends to discriminate against the poor and racial minorities.  A consistent fact about the use of the death penalty that has always intrigued me is the fact that the states that execute the most offenders are mostly in the South, where we also find the highest homicide rates.  Offenders kill and then the states kill, perhaps to sort of “even things out.”  But then the killing continues, and the executions follow, and the killing continues, followed by more executions, ad infinitum.

As for prisons and jails, the latest figures tell us that expenditures on these edifices hover around the $50 billion mark.  Quite often, when we examine a local issue, we discover that there is often a direct tradeoff, as we cut back on education and other vital social services, in order to provide the funding for a new jail or prison.  One irony is that lack of education and other services can be directly linked to crime.  In effect, we sort of “rob Peter to pay Paul.”