Difference between revisions of ".Mjc0Mg.MjIwMDg"
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State punishments are to be considered as | State punishments are to be considered as | ||
founded on and limited by natural Justice, | founded on and limited by natural Justice, | ||
| − | ^ [[addition]] and [[/addition]] public utility, in the pursuit of which | + | ^ [[addition]] [[underline]] and [[/underline]] [[/addition]] public utility, in the pursuit of which |
Wisdom and Mercy should go hand in hand. | Wisdom and Mercy should go hand in hand. | ||
Latest revision as of 22:28, 15 July 2018
to the most active propensities of human nature, though founded in reason.
How far the authority of Legislative regulations may be carried, and how far the obedience of the Subject is demandable, are rather curious than useful questions, in an age when modern Governments are so temperate.
As to the more confined question, to what degree punishments may be carried; it may be sufficient to appeal to the unwritten Law of God imprinted on the heart of Man; to that natural sympathy better felt than expressed, which forbids the giving unnecessary pain to each other.
State punishments are to be considered as founded on and limited by natural Justice, ^ addition underline and /underline /addition public utility, in the pursuit of which Wisdom and Mercy should go hand in hand.
The prevention of crimes ought to be the great object of the Lawgiver; the end of penal Laws is to deter not punish.
The severity of the penalty ought not to be augmented in proportion to the increase of the temptation, which is a cruel and mistaken policy.
The punishment should be proportioned to the flagitiousness of the crime; but this ^ addition underline slagitiousness /underline /addition diminishes in proportion to the facility with which it may be committed; for that facility in general constitutes the degree of the temptation.
This opinion is contradictory to the most ingenious and elegant writer on the Law of England.
But it is not meant to infer that the penal sanction relative to every particular offence should be mitigated in proportion to the facility with which that offence may be committed. catchword Political /catchword
