Two weeks ago, I started talking about what the goals are when sentencing a particular defendant. The first goal we talked about was punishment — punishing the specific defendant for the specific crime that was committed. This week, we will discuss the other two goals — deterrence and rehabilitation. As a reminder, this is what the goals are after a defendant has been found guilty of a crime.
Deterrence is the idea that we want to discourage people from committing crimes. This can take two different forms, specific deterrence and general deterrence. Specific deterrence means that by punishing this defendant, it will send a message to him to not commit future crimes. General deterrence, on the other hand, is about sending a message to the community at large. By punishing this defendant, we are telling other people that crime will not be tolerated in the community. Both forms of deterrence are about sending a message to try to stop future crime.
The final goal in sentencing is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is the idea that we as a society can change what caused a person to commit a crime. This usually applies most often to things like drug offenses and is why the state offers drug treatment programs to offenders. The purpose is to address the underlying issue that caused a person to commit the crime in the first place.
Of course, all three of the — goals, punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation — have their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, some people cannot or will not be rehabilitated from a life of crime, and thus a heavy punishment is more appropriate for them. That is why it is so important to look at individual cases and address what needs to be done.
As always, I am available for questions or comments at daoffice@milamcounty. net.
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