The purpose of punishment
It seems someone wants to use a new policy for dealing with graffiti "artists." Las Vegas Mayor: Vandals Should Have Thumbs Cut Off.
The purpose of punishment is to deter someone from breaking the law. But it seems that our present methods are not tough enough.
I've been a fan of Robert Heinlein's work since I picked up his first book. His ideas of punishment left no doubt that you broke the law and you were being punished for it. He advocated public whippings, hanging, and so on. His laws were few, but the punishments severe enough that you thought about it twice before doing it again.
I can't say I'm for this particular form of punishment, but I'm not against it either. If you removed someones thumbs for spraying graffiti, it would certainly make it a lot harder to hold the next can of spray paint.
The object is, of course, never to have to punish someone like this. The threat of this kind of punishment should be enough to deter youths from performing this kind of activity. But then again, this is a crime that is easily committed and hardly caught. So deterrence is negligible. But it's a step in the right direction.
We need to stop coddling the youths that run amuck causing all kinds of damage. The "Johnny can do no wrong" parents don't help either, and if we ever do start caning, doing the parents next to the children might wake them up. But I doubt it. Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still, as Dave Ramsey says.
You never know. It's worth a try. And for all of those people who are against this idea, just stop for a moment and think how you would feel and what you would want to do if it was your property defaced with graffiti. You'd want a lot more than their thumbs cut off, I assure you.
Comments
Part of the problem, as you indirectly noted, is too many laws. It's tough to respect laws when you don't know what they are, and it seems prosecutors and cops can charge you with seemingly anything.
Did you know it's now a felony to threaten bus drivers? A felony. Under the Homeland Security Act. It's posted on MATA busses behind the driver.
The other part of the problem is whether our penal system does punishment, incarceration or rehabilitation. We seem to be of many minds on this, to the criminals' benefit. And mostly, as you say, we seem to not have the stomach for true punishment anymore.
Of course, I think graffiti artists should be given a case of PineSol, a box of scrubbers and then set to cleaning the graffiti until its gone. His punishment is over when the wall looks like new. After he's been at it a couple of weeks, and his hands are raw, he'll get the idea.
Posted by: mike hollihan | November 4, 2005 2:53 PM