Do you support corporal punishment?

[Phred]

I happened to be in Singapore when that kid was caned... dunno if you recall but there was an American kid over there who spray painted some cars. He was sentenced to be caned... I believe 9 times. President (at the time) Clinton asked for leniency and they reduced the sentence to 6. Now, caning is painful. They strap you down on a table with your feet hanging over the edge. A martial arts instructor comes in with a bamboo cane that's been slit lengthwise. He hits your feet full-force. It's designed to rip the flesh off of your feet. It hurts, badly. You are in the hospital for a couple of weeks afterward and then you are released, your sentence completed.

 

A note on why the sentence was so severe. In Singapore cars cost a lot more than they do here. A Honda Civic, for example, costs the price of the car, plus a car tax which equals half the cost of the car, plus a car license which equals the cost of the car. So a $17,000 car here costs $43,500 there. He spraypainted a mercedes, a porsche and a limo. Over a million dollars worth of cars. They take that seriously. BTW... Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

 

Perhaps if we treated many of our lesser, but serious, crimes in this manner, there would be less overcrowding in prison. Most of the people in prison today are there for drug offenses. Get caught with cocaine or somesuch... get caned. You're in, you're out and you don't want to do it again. DUI... same thing. Many lesser crimes could be handled by spanking instead of prison time. Save the jails for the real criminals. Don't use it as a school for them.

 

Anyway... thoughts?

[Tracey in TX]

I literally flinched reading this post. Caning? What is this, the 16th century? Are you attempting to have a serious discussion or just having fun because of summer doldrums?

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I literally flinched reading this post. Caning? What is this, the 16th century? Are you attempting to have a serious discussion or just having fun because of summer doldrums?

 

No, it's Singapore in the 21st. Serious people do this, seriously.

 

Phred, I believe, wants to know how we feel about it. Now we know that it makes you flinch. :001_smile:

 

Phred's not much into discussing vacuum cleaners and Diva cups. That's why we are forever questioning whether or not he's attempting to have a serious discussion. ;)

[Tracey in TX]

No, it's Singapore in the 21st. Serious people do this, seriously.

 

Phred, I believe, wants to know how we feel about it. Now we know that it makes you flinch. :001_smile:

 

Phred's not much into discussing vacuum cleaners and Diva cups. That's why we are forever questioning whether or not he's attempting to have a serious discussion. ;)

 

Ah, then I hereby and formally apologize! Sorry, it just seemed like an off the wall, out of the norm sort of question. Now, with that being said, anyone remember the story of Sen. Preston Brooks (SC) and his caning of Sen. Charles Sumner (MA) during the contentious pre-Civil War era?

[Georgie]

That is a tough question because it would depend on a flawless justice system that doesn't wrongfully convict someone.

[Perry]

 

Perhaps if we treated many of our lesser, but serious, crimes in this manner, there would be less overcrowding in prison. Most of the people in prison today are there for drug offenses. Get caught with cocaine or somesuch... get caned. You're in, you're out and you don't want to do it again. DUI... same thing. Many lesser crimes could be handled by spanking instead of prison time. Save the jails for the real criminals. Don't use it as a school for them.

 

Anyway... thoughts?

 

I'm all for keeping nonviolent drug abusers out of prison, although I think dealers should be put away for a long time. I'd much rather see abusers receive community service, treatment, and rehab.

 

Caning is barbaric and I can't imagine that it would work, especially for people with addictions.

[Joanne]

Perhaps if we treated many of our lesser, but serious, crimes in this manner, there would be less overcrowding in prison. Most of the people in prison today are there for drug offenses. Get caught with cocaine or somesuch... get caned. You're in, you're out and you don't want to do it again. DUI... same thing. Many lesser crimes could be handled by spanking instead of prison time. Save the jails for the real criminals. Don't use it as a school for them.

 

Anyway... thoughts?

 

They may have a low crime rate, but what is there rate of addiciton and alcoholism? You must not know much about the nature of behavior related to those behavioral issues/diseases if you think physical penalty = not doing it anymore.

 

I don't see what caning has to do with the offense. I think working many hours in community service, preferably some kind of clean up duty that - at least on the surface - expresses *respect for property* (the opposite of the disrespect for property of the criminal) is much more suited.

[dragons in the flower bed]

It hurts, badly. You are in the hospital for a couple of weeks afterward and then you are released, your sentence completed.

... thoughts?

 

Geez louise! I'm all about the restorative justice over here, on account o' my mom always told me that two wrongs don't make a right.

[Tracey in TX]

Caning is barbaric and I can't imagine that it would work, especially for people with addictions.

 

It is barbaric, but people with addictions chose that life, meaning that individual made specific decisions which altered their lives. ie drink too much, get drunk. Get drunk repeatedly, it's addicting. Try coke/heroin and really hope you don't get hooked the first time. People with addictions need to be put away for their own safety--and the safety of others around them. Caning wouldn't benefit them, but might do wonders for burglary, vandalism, etc.

 

I just don't think I would want to live in a society which advocated such behavior. Seems to sink lower than the criminal behavior.

[st_claire]

I think it's a good idea. As the OP said, it would reduce a lot of minor criminals offenses. We spend a huge amount of money on incarcirating criminals. A caning is fast and cheap.

 

Other posters mentioned things like what happens if they convict an innocent person? Same thing that happens if we do it with our current justice system. Apologize, pay them money to make it up to them. Try your best to make sure it doesn't happen.

[sdWTMer]

This has already been discussed.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

This has already been discussed.

 

Oh, wow, thanks! I totally missed that thread. (I may have seen it and thought it was a spanking thread.)

[Elaine]

Well, I think maybe if his parents had disciplined him when he was younger, he wouldn't need to be caned as an adult.

 

I agree with what they did. Thier country, their laws. If you can't abide by the laws, don't commit a crime in their country.

[Jugglin'5]

I support drug legalization, but caning would be a good second option as far as I'm concerned, at least for dealers. I think prison should be reserved for violent offenders, and I wouldn't object if caning was added to their sentences, depending on the crime. I think non-violent crimes should involve restitution rather than imprisonment. I don't think drug use should be a crime at all, but I don't want Dutch-style govt. support of it either.

[mysticamethyst]

This is a hard question to answer. The boy in question did over a million dollars in damage. How does one even begin to pay that back? Caning is very barbaric as another poster stated, but humans even in modern society are very barbaric creatures and sometimes it takes barbaric measures to reach some. Would I want to see caning in our country is the question, the answer would be yes. I would like to say community service but that is really a joke of a sentence and the ones that get it know it. I cared for a 16 year-old boy who had to server 150 hours for beign a gereral butt. Well, let me tell you the adults supervising the teams fall asleep, don't show up, just tell them to go home so that they can go home. I actually had to complain about it, at which time I was made aware that they knew this happens but they couldn't do anything about it; no enough help. While I would like to say no, to corpral punishment, I would also like to not see drug deals on the street, or hookers walking around, or gangs hanging around the street corner. Sometimes things we don't like or don't want are necessary evils. As far as accidently getting the wrong person, I really dont' think it would be much of an issue after a few initial canings, if everyone was following the rules but say a few the individuals who were doing wrong would stick out like sore thumb or be typically ignorant and leave a most evident trail. There are just so many criminals in american society we have a hard time telling who is who. I mean no disrepect to anyone and apologize if I did not get my thoughts across properly. There has to be more of a punishment than a time out, that theory has failed for most, not all but most.