Deck 9: The Ethics of Legal Punishment

Question 1

America is an incredibly punitive country based on how we punish criminal offenders, school children, and children more broadly.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Legal punishment is both burdensome and condemnatory.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The abolitionist critique of legal punishment suggests that with modifications to current practice, legal punishment can be ethically justified.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A Kantian justification of legal punishment would argue that the potential consequences of having a system of legal punishment are better than are the consequences of not having such a system.

Question 5

Deterrence occurs when the perceived costs of crime outweigh the perceived benefits.

Question 6

Deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation would all be consequentialist justifications for legal punishment.

Question 7

Retributivist justifications for legal punishment view punishment as an end-in-itself .

Question 8

Sentencing guidelines exemplify instrumentalist justifications of punishment.

Question 9

Critics contend that rights forfeiture theory doesn't articulate who is allowed to punish an offender.

Question 10

Those who support capital punishment invoke the same justifications as those invoked for justifying legal punishment more generally.

Question 11

Legal punishment:

A) Involves the state intentionally inflicting a burden on an offender
B) Is not imposed on the innocent
C) Is expressive: an offender is condemned or censured
D) All of the above

Question 12

Moral justifications of legal punishment typically address which of the following considerations?

A) Whether victims are also being punished
B) Whether a particular form of punishment is popular with citizens
C) The presumed functions of punishment
D) The speed with which punishment is administered after the crime

Question 13

Which of the following justifies legal punishment as a way of teaching a moral lesson to both offenders and the broader community?

A) Retribution
B) Moral education theory
C) Consequentialism
D) Deterrence

Question 14

Sentencing guidelines:

A) Consider the seriousness of the conviction offense when imposing a sanction
B) Consider the moral blameworthiness of the offender when imposing a sanction
C) Allow for either imprisonment or probation
D) All of the above

Question 15

In 1972, the Supreme Court instituted a moratorium on executions in the case of:

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Gregg v. Georgia
C) Bush v. Gore
D) McCleskey v. Kemp

Question 16

Critics have raised which of the following objections to "moral education" as a justification for legal punishment?

A) It is inappropriately maternalistic in its orientation
B) It fails to consider the moral rights of victims
C) It fails to explain how punishment is the most effective means to achieve moral education
D) None of the above

Question 17

Specific policies flowing from retributist justifications for legal punishment include:

A) Rehabilitation
B) Deterrence
C) Incapacitation
D) Just desserts

Question 18

Arguing that the state must punish those found guilty of a crime because they have gained an unfair advantage over others or violated the collective trust is considered:

A) Incapacitation
B) Rehabilitation
C) Positive retributivism
D) Negative retributivism

Question 19

Criticisms of rights forfeiture theory as a justification for legal punishment include the problems of:

A) Relatedness
B) Durability and depth
C) Authorization
D) All of the above

Question 20

Retribution, as a justification for legal punishment, is not guided by which of the following?

A) Proportionality
B) Vengeance
C) Fairness
D) All of the above

Question 21

________ argues that punishment is justified as a way of teaching a moral lesson to not only those who commit crimes, but also the broader community.

Question 22

_________ argues that violating the legal rights of others alters the moral status of wrongdoers and therefore allows them to be punished.

Question 23

_________ argues that a sliding scale of punishment should exist based on the seriousness of the harm inflicted by, and the moral blameworthiness of, the offender.

Question 24

_________ occurs when an individual learns the costs of crime outweigh the benefits.

Question 25

If the homicide rate in a state declined for some period of weeks or months after the execution of a murderer occurred, this could illustrate _____________ of murder.

Question 26

__________ suggests that the state must be constrained to punishing only those who are guilty.

Question 27

___________________ suggests that the state must punish those found guilty of a crime because the offender gained an unfair advantage over others or violated the collective trust by engaging in criminal behavior.

Question 28

Critics of consequentialist justifications for legal punishment have pointed out that __________ ignores the fact there are the additional costs associated with punishment that potentially outweigh its presumed benefits.

Question 29

Consequentialist justifications for legal punishment are said to be ______________ in their orientation.

Question 30

_______________ occurs when an offender is removed from the community by incarcerating her, which makes the offender unable to continue victimizing others in the community.

Question 31

Explain why legal punishment cannot be ethically justified, using any of the systems of ethics you have examined to this point.

Question 32

Which justification of legal punishment do you believe is most reflected in the criminal justice system of today? Explain.

Question 33

Which justifications of legal punishment are teleological and which are deontological in their orientation? Explain.

Question 34

Based on material provided in Chapter 09, explain or describe how or why the United States may be the most retributivist country among those in the developed world.