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Comment by dllthomas | Hacker News Reader

> For anything besides organized crime, that's going to reduce crime by removing whatever crimes they'd commit.

That doesn't automatically follow.

First, it ignores crimes committed while in jail, which is totally a thing - but at least hopefully the impact of those on "innocents" is reduced.

Second, if punishment reduces honest opportunities and increases criminal opportunities (networking?), enough new criminal acts may follow to make up for the lost time.

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I think punishment can reduce honest opportunities when you go from zero jail to some jail, but once you're in prison for a year, my guess is the additional effect of having a record and disrupting your career is lower, with basic ways you'd expect like being out of contact with people you know, or being behind on technical training.

Likewise, I think networking also doesn't account for much when your prison sentence is five or ten years instead of three. There's a big jump from zero to one, and a much smaller jump after. (Regardless, that's one reason why I explicitly excluded organized crime.)

These are a few reasons why I think corporal punishment might be a good idea.

Why go straight to corporal punishment rather than any of the other non-custodial solutions like electronic tagging? Or is the brutality part of the point?

Because with corporal punishment once it's over you're done. You don't drop off the face of the earth for weeks to years like you do with prison. I'd totally take lashes in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Fines also have this quality.

Only if you can afford to pay them. Otherwise they linger for quite some time.

Even in the case where a fine takes some time to pay, it doesn't exclude the offender from society while they're paying it.

The biggest problem I have with corporal punishment is the same with capital punishment; I could never live knowing a not 100% effective justice system harms or kills innocent people, and I'm supporting it by electing the leaders and paying the money to implement it.

An incarceration focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment is something i think would work a lot better, I could at least stand sending innocent people to such a place.

In some ways, I do think corporal punishment is more humane. Given the option of twenty lashes or a year in jail, sign me up for the cat-o-nines. Time is precious, and pain is fleeting.

Depending on the methods employed, one's convalescence from twenty lashes could last longer than a year.

I'd too take the lash, these days. But keep in mind that back when that was popular, they didn't have antibiotics nor germ theory, and being unable to do physical labor for any length of time was a lot more problematic. Death was a common consequence.

Within a few years, "tough on crime" US politicians will lead to people being routinely maimed or beaten to death. Soundbites, "accidents happen", etc etc, next back-door execution please.

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