Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Since the beginning of recorded time, different types of punishments have been decided for committing crimes. People have conflicting views about type of punishments for offender. On one hand, many believe that every crime should have a fixed punishment. On the other hand, many argue that punishments should be decided according to the context of a crime and the motive behind committing a crime. These both arguments will be analyzed prior to coming to a reasoned conclusion.
It is felt by many that every offender should have a fixed punishment. For an instance, many Muslim countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, where anyone who found guilty of stealing, sentence to cut his hand. Thus, violence and crime rate is very low in this country because everyone knows the consequences of committing a crime. Moreover, this act makes very easy for judges to decide punishment and it speeds up the whole process, thus, the justice prevails. This example clearly shows why some people gravitate towards this point of view.
On the other hand, many people holds the opinion that judges should properly consider context of a crime and reason for committing a crime while sentencing offender. For example, a person who kills someone for self-defense, should not be given same punishment as of serial murderer. This example clearly shows that the two persons who commit a same crime should not be treated similarly. Thus, above example makes sense why some people support this claim.
After analyzing above two points of view, it is believed that culprit should not be sentenced to a fixed punishment. It is recommended that a person who convicts a crime for the first time should be sentenced to low level punishment, but if previous punishment does not rehabilitate the offender and he again commits the same offence then he should be sentenced to a severe punishment.