Deck 14: Legal Punishment

Question 1

By May 1, 2007 there had been ________ who were found innocent due to DNA testing. They were released after spending ________ years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

A) 17; 148
B) 88; 730
C) 1341; 15884
D) 201; 2500

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Indeterminate sentences would be more likely to be favored by those with a retributivist than those with a deterrence viewpoint.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A retributivist argument for legal punishment is one according to which persons who break laws must be punished so that we can get personal satisfaction.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

How many black high school dropouts are prisoners or ex-convicts by the time they reach their mid thirties?

A) 6%
B) 30%
C) 45%
D) 60%

Question 5

Which of the following is a true positive in utilitarian reasoning for capital punishment?

A) It works as a general deterrent
B) It works as an individual deterrent
C) It saves tax money
D) Most Americans support it

Question 6

According to a consequentialist argument regarding legal punishment, if a form of punishment is not deterring anyone from crime, then it cannot be justified.

Question 7

According to the retributivist argument, all those who commit serious crimes must "pay" for them and we determine how much they should pay only by considering how serious was their crime.

Question 8

According to consequentialist reasoning, if other measures than imprisonment work better to deter or prevent crime then we ought to use these other measures.

Question 9

Retributivists would support a not guilty plea for persons who are in fact "insane" for, because of their mental dysfunction, they then are not responsible for what they do.

Question 10

Studies show capital crime rates in states that regularly execute compared with states that do not have capital punishment is

A) About the same
B) About 30% lower
C) About 10% lower
D) About 40% higher

Question 11

Which country has the highest incarceration rate in the world?

A) United States
B) Singapore
C) China
D) Russia

Question 12

According to a strict interpretation of the word "prevent," by executing all convicted murderers, we prevent every one of them from committing any further murders.

Question 13

To suggest that capital punishment is a different moral question for nomadic peoples living in tents or other temporary shelters than for societies with maximum-security prisons is what kind of reasoning?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Natural law
C) Relativism
D) Kantian

Question 14

The last execution by hanging took place in

A) Texas
B) Montana
C) Delaware
D) Utah

Question 15

A retributivist would uphold a just punishment for certain crimes even if the imposition of this punishment did not deter anyone from committing such crimes.

Question 16

Retributivists always support a lex talionis view and thus always will support the death penalty for murderers (as being a life for a life).

Question 17

The cost of life in prison without parole compared to an execution is

A) Slightly higher
B) Significantly lower
C) About twice as much
D) A bit lower

Question 18

Which of our moral theories is most likely to be used in support of the retribution argument for capital punishment?

A) Categorical imperative
B) Virtue ethics
C) Utilitarianism
D) Relativism

Question 19

According to the deterrence argument for legal punishment, any kind of punishment is justified no matter what the consequences.

Question 20

If all acts are determined by various causal factors, then on retributivist grounds punishment as such is unjustified.

Question 21

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): At least while they are in prison they cannot do any harm to those outside the prison.

Question 22

Give one good point about and one problem associated with either the consequentialist or the retributivist argument for legal punishment (not the death penalty but legal punishment generally).

Question 23

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): There should be no legal punishment for crimes that persons are forced to commit for they are not really responsible for these crimes.

Question 24

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): To the extent that a person could not help what they did in committing a crime, his legal responsibility (and appropriate punishment) is diminished.

Question 25

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): It is only right that someone who has broken the law should be punished by the law.

Question 26

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): Some crimes are so horrible that those committing them are appropriately punished with life imprisonment without parole.

Question 27

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): If we can decrease the incidence of child abuse by more severe punishments for the abusers, then we should do it.

Question 28

The fact that having capital punishment "on the table" causes many people to confess to crimes in order to have death "taken off the table" is what kind of ethical reasoning?

A) Relativism
B) Natural law
C) Categorical imperative
D) Utilitarianism

Question 29

Give one problem associated with the deterrence or consequentialist argument for the death penalty and one associated with the retributivist argument.

Question 30

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): If we could be sure that a person were going to commit a crime, then we would be doing the right thing to stop this by putting him in prison.

Question 31

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): Punishment ought to fit the crime.

Question 32

Label the following examples of reasons for legal punishment as Consequentialist generally (C), Consequentialist Deterrence (CD), Consequentialist Prevention (CP), or Retributivist (R): While sure and swift punishment may not work for all, it surely works for those who understand the real threat of being punished if they break the law.