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4/10/14

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!"#$%&' )*
+,-./"0&-% #-1 %"& 2&#%" +&-#3%4
updaLes
Aprll 3: no Class

Aprll 2: LxLra CredlL lecLure: hll Zuckerman,
SocleLy wlLhouL Cod?" 3-6pm Allce eLers
AudlLorlum
Aprll 4: Andrew llala, hllosophlcal
Anarchlsm" lresno ClLy College, 7:30pm CA8
231
ulalogue ro[ecL
8eporL uue: Aprll 22

Lngage aL leasL Lwo dlerenL people ln a
dlalogue abouL LACP Cl Lhe Loplcs:
euLhanasla
sexual morallLy
punlshmenL and Lhe deaLh penalLy
bloLechnology
vlolence/war
global [usuce
Lmouvlsm and 8evenge
ln 8hode lsland, ln 1983, Mlchael Woodmansee was senLenced Lo
40 years ln prlson for gruesomely murderlng a 3-year-old boy, !ason
loreman. (Woodmansee allegedly aLe Lhe boy's esh and
shellacked hls bones.) 8hode lsland permlLs Lhe early release of
prlson lnmaLes for good behavlor and for worklng prlson [obs
durlng Lhelr lncarcerauon. ln 2011, Woodmansee was scheduled Lo
be released, havlng served only 28 years of hls negouaLed plea.
lrom Lhe momenL of senLenclng, wlLh Lhe Lrlal aborLed for a plea
bargaln, Woodmansee had already shorLchanged Lhe sLaLe of
8hode lsland and Lhe boy's faLher, !ohn loreman, of whaL was
owed. now lL was measurably worse. Cn hearlng LhaL hls son's
murderer was soon Lo be a free man, loreman sald, "lf Lhls man ls
released anywhere ln my vlclnlLy, or lf l can nd hlm aer Lhe facL, l
do lnLend Lo klll Lhls man."
1he Case for 8evenge"
hups://chronlcle.com/arucle/1he-Case-for-8evenge/138133/
!usuce or vengeance?
Ceorge W. 8ush (Aprll 13, 2002)

We musL nd Lhose who wanL Lo
hurL us because of Lhe bellefs we
hold dear, and brlng Lhem Lo
[usuce. l wanL you Lo know l use
Lhe word [usuce. And for Lhe
young here, you need Lo know
our counLry does noL seek
revenge. We seek [usuce.
LeLhal ln[ecuon roblems
Cklahoma ls delaylng Lwo execuuons of deaLh row lnmaLes aer lL
couldn'L geL Lhe drugs lL needs Lo perform leLhal ln[ecuons,
foreshadowlng slmllar problems LhaL wlll sLarL aecung oLher sLaLes as
drug supplles run Lhln

1he blggesL obsLacle for sLaLes Lrylng Lo execuLe deaLh row lnmaLes
seems slmple enough Lo overcome. 8uL obLalnlng leLhal ln[ecuon
drugs has Lurned lnLo an exlsLenual crlsls for Lhe counLry's mosL
modern meLhod of caplLal punlshmenL.

Cklahoma announced 1uesday LhaL lL was delaylng Lwo upcomlng
execuuons aer lL falled lasL week Lo geL Lwo of Lhe Lhree drugs lL
planned Lo use Lo execuLe a palr of deaLh row lnmaLes.
1lme Magazlne, March 18, 2014:
hup://ume.com/29343/oklahoma-leLhal-ln[ecuon-drugs/
4/10/14
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WhaL's Lhe ulerence beLween
murder and auempLed murder?
A lresno woman accused of Lrylng Lo klll her parenLs agrees Lo
prlson ume lnsLead of sLarung a Lrlal on Monday.
Llsa Alarcon pleaded "no conLesL" Lo Lwo counLs of auempLed
murder on lrlday aernoon. Alarcon was accused of shooung
her parenLs Lhrough Lhelr bedroom wlndow ln AugusL 2012. A
rsL Lrlal ended ln a hung [ury lasL CcLober, and sLarung
Monday, she would've dragged her famlly Lhrough Lhe same
sLresses and palnful memorles all over agaln. lrlday, she
chose Lo proLecL Lhe people she almosL kllled.
Llsa Alarcon drove Lo her parenLs' nelghborhood, walked up
Lo Lhelr wlndow and sLarLed shooung. A nelghbor sald he saw
her do lL and physlcal evldence backed up much of hls sLory.
hup://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/sLory?secuon=news/
local&ld=9473923 (March 21. 2014)
WhaL's Lhe ulerence beLween
murder and auempLed murder?
8uL aL Lrlal lasL year, defense auorney Scou 8aly argued Lhe
sLreeL was dark and Lhe nelghbor mlsldenued Lhe shooLer. lL
was enough uncerLalnLy Lo convlnce Lwo [urors Lo voLe "noL
gullLy" and Lhe [udge declared a mlsLrlal. Alarcon was abouL Lo
face Lhe same charges on Monday, and a convlcuon could've
meanL a llfe senLence and aL leasL 32 years unul her rsL
parole hearlng.
"And when lL's 'Lo llfe', you don'L know for sure lf you're
gemng ouL," 8aly sald. "AL leasL wlLh a 20-year range, she has
a daLe. She knows she'll geL Lo go home."
1wenLy years ls Lhe deal Alarcon Look laLe lrlday, only aer
lnlually re[ecung Lhe oer. rosecuLors had oaLed even less
ume before seullng on Lhe 20-year senLence for second
degree auempLed murder on boLh her moLher and faLher.
hup://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/sLory?secuon=news/
local&ld=9473923 (March 21. 2014)
ulscusslon Cuesuons
ls !usuce more lmporLanL Lhan revenge (or
dlerenL from revenge)?
Should we dlsungulsh beLween murder and
auempLed murder-and punlsh dlerenLly?
WhaL should Lhe approprlaLe punlshmenL be
for murder, auempLed murder, and oLher
crlmes.?
ls leLhal ln[ecuon Lhe rlghL way Lo go, lf we
assume LhaL u ls approprlaLe?
ueaLh enalLy?
lor whlch crlmes?
8ape
Arson
Murder
Mass Murder
Whlch MeLhod?
Panglng
LlecLrocuuon
llrlng Squad
Cas Chamber
LeLhal
ln[ecuon

ueaLh enalLy SLaLes
18 wlLhouL
deaLh
penalLy
32 wlLh
deaLh
penalLy
lederal and
MlllLary u
Wlklpedla, 2014
ollce/mlllLary can klll.
WhaL abouL deaLh penalLy?
ollce shooungs 2011 (
hup://[lmsherLruecrlme.blogspoL.com/2012/01/
pollce-lnvolved-shooungs-2011-annual.hLml)

Callfornla 183 LoLal (102 faLal)
llorlda 96 (49)
llllnols 64 (26)
1exas 38 (26)
new ?ork 49 (23)
ennsylvanla 49 (23)
Chlo 43 (28)
Arlzona 43 (27)
Maryland 41 (16)
WashlngLon 39 (29)
4/10/14
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hup://www.deaLhpenalLylnfo.org/
execuuons-year
Legal unlshmenL?
A negauve consequence

8elaLed Lo gullL (responslblllLy)

lor breaklng Lhe law

AdmlnlsLered by legal auLhorlues
ueLerrence
uullLarlan

revenL crlme ln advance (deLerrence)
Also: prevenL repeaL oense

need slgnlcanL LhreaL Lo cause fear and
reassessmenL of behavlor
roblems wlLh ueLerrence
8auonal calculauon (cosL-beneL)
Won'L work on crlmes of passlon"
Won'L work lf crlmlnal Lhlnks he won'L he be
caughL
Won'L work lf beneL of crlme ouLwelghs harm of
punlshmenL
roblems of ueLerrence
ueLerrenL punlshmenL ls exLernally relaLed"
Lo crlme
lf someLhlng oLher Lhan punlshmenL works Lo
deLer crlme, we may wanL Lo use LhaL
Crlme revenuon
8ehablllLauon or 8esLorauve !usuce
lf punlshmenL does noL work Lo deLer, we may
noL wanL Lo use lL
uullLarlanlsm = mlnlmlze useless paln
roblems of ueLerrence
May need severe punlshmenL ln order Lo work
lf lL ls unfalrly applled, lL mlghL Leach people
Lhe wrong lesson
1haL Lhe law ls raclsL or blased agalnsL Lhe poor
Cr LhaL crlmlnals should work harder Lo avold
gemng caughL and suck LogeLher lf Lhey do geL
caughL
4/10/14
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8eLrlbuuvlsm
A naLural rlghL Lo repaymenL for damage done
(cf. Locke, chap. 7)

unlshmenL ls lnLernally relaLed" Lo crlme
1he punlshmenL Ls Lhe crlme"
Crlmlnals !"#"$%" Lo be punlshed
8eLrlbuuvlsm
LgallLarlan reLrlbuuon
LxacL pay-back: eye for eye"
&"' )*+,-.,#
roporuonal
unlshmenL by someLhlng proporuonal Lo Lhe
crlme
llnes, years ln prlson, eLc.
roblems wlLh 8eLrlbuuvlsm
Pow do we esLabllsh Lhe equlvalences/
proporuons among crlme and punlshmenL
Can we rape raplsLs
WhaL do we do wlLh mass murderers?

8esponslblllLy ls connecLed Lo ueserL
lree wlll requlred for responslblllLy
Should we punlsh chlldren or menLally
lncompeLenL adulLs?
roblems wlLh 8eLrlbuuvlsm
ls lL revenge?
8uL: feellng (conungenL emouon) vs. ueserL
(absLracL)

WhaL lf glvlng people whaL Lhey deserve
undermlnes soclal order?
Would we have Lo execuLe all murderers
regardless of Lhe cosL?
ls Lhere a place for mercy?
roblems of 8eLrlbuuvlsm
Pow do we ensure LhaL we only punlsh Lhe
gullLy?
ls lL beuer Lo leL a few gullLy go free Lhan Lo
punlsh an lnnocenL person?

1he lnsanlLy uefense?
Pow do we esLabllsh compeLence?
Can we punlsh" people for Lhelr asoclal or
lmmoral urges (over whlch Lhey have no conLrol)?
1he roblem of lree wlll
Are our acuons based upon
Ceneucs
Lducauon
Soclal conLexL
CpporLunlLy?
Cr are we responslble for our acuons?
4/10/14
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rlsons ln Lhe uS
1 ouL of every 34 adulLs ln
prlson or under courL
supervlslon (2.9 of
populauon)

Crlme ls down

ls lL good or bad LhaL we
have such a large prlson
populauon?
uS rlsons vs. Lhe world
u.S. accounLs for abouL 23 percenL of
Lhe world's enure prlson populauon.

rlson opulauon 8aLe
uS: 716 per 100,000.
8wanda aL 393
8ussla aL 368
8razll aL 233
Spaln aL 139
AusLralla aL 133
Chlna aL 122
uoes Lhls mauer?
8ace?
rlson opulauon per 100,000
lor whlLe males: 478
lor Launo males: 1,238
lor black males: 3,023
uo 8aclal dlsparlues mauers?
8ace and Lhe ueaLh enalLy
8lacks more llkely Lo be senLenced Lo deaLh
Lhan whlLes-especlally when Lhe vlcum ls
whlLe
19 whlLes have been execuLed for murderlng a
black vlcum
237 blacks have been execuLed for kllllng a
whlLe vlcum
uoes Lhls mauer eLhlcally?
8aclal/Class ulsparlues?
oor people geL worse lawyers-and more
prlson ume

Lx-cons can'L voLe and have a hard ume
gemng [obs

uoes prlson undermlne communlues?
CosL of rlson per year per prlsoner
u.S. average: $31,000

Callfornla: $47,000

ls lL worLh lL?
4/10/14
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CosLs of ueaLh enalLy
Plgh cosLs of deaLh penalLy
Lrlals-lncludlng auLomauc
appeals
Plgh cosL of ueaLh 8ow
Low numbers execuLed
ls Lhe deaLh penalLy worLh lL?
Abolluon-8esLorauon-8ehablllLauon
AlLernauve
uefuse ConlcL

revenL Crlme

ls Lhere a place for mercy or forglveness?
Lxonerauons
Slnce 1973, more Lhan 140 convlcLs on deaLh
row ln Lhe unlLed SLaLes have been
exoneraLed
Slnce 1989, 302 people were proved lnnocenL
of a varleLy of crlmes, lncludlng 18 people on
deaLh row.
Mlll on Lhe ueaLh enalLy
lL ls a feared punlshmenL-so has a deLerrenL
eecL
lL ls less palnful Lhan oLher punlshmenLs (e.g.
LorLure or llfe aL hard labor)

So: lL works Lo maxlmlze good consequences
uoes Lhe ueaLh enalLy deLer?
no clear correlauon beLween deaLh penalLy
and crlme raLes
nauonal Academy of Sclence (2012):
research Lo daLe on Lhe eecL of caplLal
punlshmenL on homlclde ls noL lnformauve abouL
wheLher caplLal punlshmenL decreases, lncreases,
or has no eecL on homlclde raLes."
kanL on ueaLh enalLy
8eLrlbuuvlsm and lex Lallonls

undeserved evll whlch any one commlLs on
anoLher, ls Lo be regarded as perpeLraLed on
hlmself."
1reaL murderer as rauonal belng-and glve
hlm whaL he deserves
4/10/14
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CaLhollc Cpposluon Lo Lhe ueaLh
enalLy
lf Lhere are oLher non-leLhal ways Lo punlsh
and resLraln murderers, use Lhem
Cur prlson sysLem works well-enough Lo
resLraln murderers and defend socleLy
Mercy and forglveness are lmporLanL values
Mercy and lorglveness
nlckel Mlnes shooung
llorlda murder
8u1: 8eLrlbuuvlsm: mercy and forglveness
glve people less Lhan whaL Lhey deserve
Pumane execuuon?
Can we behead people or
elecLrocuLe murderers?
Cr should we be more
humane ln kllllng Lhem?
1he move Lo leLhal ln[ecuon.
buL pushback from drug
manufacLurers and medlcal
professlonals

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