Timeline for If a lesser crime imposes the same or greater sentence as a more severe crime, is the punishment considered cruel?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 27, 2016 at 14:50 | vote | accept | Breakskater | ||
| Jan 27, 2016 at 4:49 | comment | added | Breakskater | @phoog the seriousness test in the link is flawed because some crimes impose minimums that the judge can not vary from and some penalties for the same crimes are later reduced by legislation which isn't factored into the formula. I agree that there is a need for an independent objective method. In the US, there is a tripartate proportionality test - Solem v Helm | |
| Jan 26, 2016 at 1:04 | comment | added | Breakskater | @Terry It's the law's objective test to cruelty that matters and not my own. Since you asked, I would define cruelty using several approaches. One would be to determine if a person required rehabilitation but incapacitation was imposed instead. Second would be to test if the length of incapacitation exceeded the time required to reform an individual. Third, would be compare with other crimes to see if the punishment exceeded a more severe crime's penalty | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 21:17 | answer | added | jqning | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 20:57 | answer | added | Zizouz212 | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 17:51 | comment | added | phoog | It seems that the relative severity of crimes is often judged by the relative severity of the associated penalty. See for example statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-004-x/2009001/part-partie1-eng.htm ("...each type of offence is assigned a seriousness 'weight'. The weights are derived from actual sentences handed down by courts in all provinces and territories."). In that context, this question is impossible. To ask it, as @Viktor points out, you need an independent objective method of ranking the relative severity of the crimes under consideration. | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 16:36 | comment | added | Viktor | What do you define as lesser crime? I assume by cruel you mean it in the constitutional sense of cruel and unusual? | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 16:34 | comment | added | Terry | Can you state the law that makes you believe that to be the case? Also, what do you define as cruel? | |
| Jan 25, 2016 at 16:23 | history | asked | Breakskater | CC BY-SA 3.0 |