Retribution Sentencing Philosophy Essay

I feel we should use the retribution sentencing philosophy in the United States because you should be punished accordingly for the crime you commit. Retribution is matching the punishment to the severity of the crime. It is commonly referred to as the “eye for an eye” mentality and focuses on society. It also maintains moral order by inflicting pain and suffering to the offender. In previous years, before the death penalty was replaced primarily with sentences of life in prison without parole and life in prison with the possibility of parole, the eye for an eye mentality rang true if an offender murdered a member(s) of society. The offender was sentenced to death, either lethal injection or the electric chair, as punishment for the crime he …show more content…
If a criminal murders a member of society, whether he/she had the intent or it was the result of another crime – armed robbery gone wrong, then the punishment should be death. If we implement this philosophy, the overcrowding of correctional facilities would decline. There’s no reason for someone to be sentenced longer than their life expectancy, for example sentenced to 80 years as a 30-year old. Letting murderers and rapist back onto the streets just gives them the opportunity to commit crimes as revenge, or a release of their pent-up rage. For example, the criminal, Willie Horton, that was allowed weekend passes–after being sentenced to life in prison after stabbing a boy nineteen times during a robbery–and brutality kidnapped a couple, murdering the boyfriend and repeatedly raping the female (Bush ad, 1988). Here, the punishment did not fit the crime. Although Horton was sentenced to life in prison, weekend passes defeated the purpose of preventing further crimes. Personally, after the stabbing of the young boy, Horton should have been sentenced to death, not life in