Commensurate Desert
Von Hirsch is one of the major contributors to modern retributive theory. Distinct from Kant's "eye for an eye," Von Hirsch asserts that crimes should be punished proportionately to the seriousness of the crime committed; this having priority over the utilitarian concerns about crime prevention. For example, theft should be punished more severely than speeding because it is morally more reprehensible; this would be true even if studies proved we might save more lives by punishing speeding more severely than theft.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Von Hirsch
Famous quotes containing the words commensurate and/or desert:
“A few [women] warrant our attention not because they have the answer but because they have rejected the mentality that insists there must be one answer. What makes them role models is not how much or how little they work, how many or how few hats they wear, but rather how well they understand, and accept, that for all rewards there will be commensurate sacrifice; for all gains, some loss; for any pleasure, some pain.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
—Thomas Gray (1716–1771)