Until we can raise the dead, this will remain the fact and justice demands that in the rare times the death penalty is carried out, the evidence commanding its use must incontrovertible and absolutely certain or the punishment can not be carried out. Certainly, the dialogue over the death penalty raises the question of exactly how effective punishment is as opposed to the crimes that are being committed.
Are the costs of punishment outweighed by the benefits and what are the benefits if any? We will use the drug enforcement issue as an example in this essay. This author would argue that we would we be better off if less drug crime resulted in punishment. The costs far outweigh its benefits.
There is no other area where this is more of a question than in the area of the punishment of drug offenses. In an era of increased incarcerations of criminal offenders on drug charges and the need to cut corrections outlays that could be better used elsewhere, the move to decriminalize many drug offenses and make them liable to civil penalties is growing in momentum. The issues have caused many state and local governments in addition have, to explore increasing the use of criminal drug courts. Research is available evidence. That indicates that this may be both cheaper and more effective than the current draconian drug penalties. Such courts would follow the lead of the Obama government that would involve treatment as opposed to punishment. These ideas in addition to decriminalization are new only in the fact that they are untried politically, not because they are new in concept (Kreit 2).
At the 2010 University of Chicago Legal Forum, Alex Kreit presented a paper that modeled recent legislation fielded in Portugal...
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