The politics of punishment
- The Indian Police Journal
- 67(4), Oct-Dec, 2020: p.9-22
This paper examines the politics of how penal laws get framed. The retributive as well as reductive consequences of punishment are discussed. It is shown how sometimes the optics of lawmaking takes precedence over extant social realities and the capabilities of the State for enforcement of the said laws. To illustrate the anomaly, the morality and the utility of corporal punishment are examined by juxtaposing it with the death penalty. The paper suggests that reform in the Penal system is essentially a political question and needs a suitable political discourse along with building of a social discourse and capability of the State before a proper Penal reform can happen. – Reproduced
Reductivism, Retributivism, Corporal punishment, Death penalty