Bring Back the Lash
Why flogging is more humane than prison.
By Peter Moskos Washington Monthly EXCERPT:
You’re about to get whipped. Mentally more than physically. It’s going to hurt—but it’s supposed to.
I write in defense of flogging, something most people consider too radical for debate and even unworthy of intellectual discussion. But please, donÂ’t turn the page, upset I dared to broach the subject.
My defense of flogging—whipping, caning, lashing, call it what you will—is meant to be provocative, but only because something extreme is needed to shatter the status quo. There are 2.3 million Americans in our prisons and jails. That is too many. I want to reduce cruelty, and corporal punishment, once common in America and still practiced in places like Singapore, may be the answer.
So first let me begin with a simple question: Given the choice between five years in prison and ten brutal lashes, which would you choose?
Yes, flogging is a severe and even brutal form of punishment. Under the lash, skin is literally ripped from the body. But prison means losing a part of your life and everything you care for. Compared to this, flogging is just a few very painful strokes on the behind. And itÂ’s over in a few minutes.
If you had the choice, if you were given the option of staying out of jail, wouldnÂ’t you choose to be flogged and released?
Consider your answer to that question. Then consider the fact that the United States now has more prisoners than any other country in the world. Ever. In sheer numbers and as a percentage of the population. Our rate of incarceration is roughly seven times that of Canada or any Western European country. Despite our “land of the free” rhetoric, we deem it necessary to incarcerate more of our people than the world’s most draconian regimes. We have more prisoners than China, and they have a billion more people than we do. We have more prisoners than soldiers; prison guards outnumber Marines.
<<<SNIP>>>
The lash, which metes out punishment without falsely promising betterment, is an unequivocal expression of society’s condemnation. For better and for worse, flogging would air the dirty laundry of race and punishment in America in a way that prisons—which, by their very design, are removed from society—can never do. To highlight an injustice is in no way to condone it. Quite the opposite.
END EXCERPT
Interesting. You could also raise money this way, sell tickets to be the, er, designated hitter...
IMNSHO, this would work, but, it would work a lot better if done in the open. People argue that Capital Punishment doesn't work as a deterrent. My argument would be that if executions, be they hangings, electrocutions, or gas chambers, were carried out in full view of the public, they would be a hell of a lot more effective as a deterrent. Corporal punishment,as well, would need to be public, and highly visible to be a deterrent . I'd vote for bringing back the stocks, and placing them on brightly lit platforms at busy intersections.
Why flogging is more humane than prison.
By Peter Moskos Washington Monthly EXCERPT:
You’re about to get whipped. Mentally more than physically. It’s going to hurt—but it’s supposed to.
I write in defense of flogging, something most people consider too radical for debate and even unworthy of intellectual discussion. But please, donÂ’t turn the page, upset I dared to broach the subject.
My defense of flogging—whipping, caning, lashing, call it what you will—is meant to be provocative, but only because something extreme is needed to shatter the status quo. There are 2.3 million Americans in our prisons and jails. That is too many. I want to reduce cruelty, and corporal punishment, once common in America and still practiced in places like Singapore, may be the answer.
So first let me begin with a simple question: Given the choice between five years in prison and ten brutal lashes, which would you choose?
Yes, flogging is a severe and even brutal form of punishment. Under the lash, skin is literally ripped from the body. But prison means losing a part of your life and everything you care for. Compared to this, flogging is just a few very painful strokes on the behind. And itÂ’s over in a few minutes.
If you had the choice, if you were given the option of staying out of jail, wouldnÂ’t you choose to be flogged and released?
Consider your answer to that question. Then consider the fact that the United States now has more prisoners than any other country in the world. Ever. In sheer numbers and as a percentage of the population. Our rate of incarceration is roughly seven times that of Canada or any Western European country. Despite our “land of the free” rhetoric, we deem it necessary to incarcerate more of our people than the world’s most draconian regimes. We have more prisoners than China, and they have a billion more people than we do. We have more prisoners than soldiers; prison guards outnumber Marines.
<<<SNIP>>>
The lash, which metes out punishment without falsely promising betterment, is an unequivocal expression of society’s condemnation. For better and for worse, flogging would air the dirty laundry of race and punishment in America in a way that prisons—which, by their very design, are removed from society—can never do. To highlight an injustice is in no way to condone it. Quite the opposite.
END EXCERPT
Interesting. You could also raise money this way, sell tickets to be the, er, designated hitter...
IMNSHO, this would work, but, it would work a lot better if done in the open. People argue that Capital Punishment doesn't work as a deterrent. My argument would be that if executions, be they hangings, electrocutions, or gas chambers, were carried out in full view of the public, they would be a hell of a lot more effective as a deterrent. Corporal punishment,as well, would need to be public, and highly visible to be a deterrent . I'd vote for bringing back the stocks, and placing them on brightly lit platforms at busy intersections.
