I disagree with you. The pain is felt for generations.

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Well, "whipping" covers a lot of ground depending on what kind of whip is being used and who is using it. We could be talking about anything from a soft leather that just raises some welts, to a cat-o'-nine-tails that rips off sheets of skin, to an old Roman scourge that digs into and tears out chunks of muscle.
I think anything but the first would be a grossly excessive punishment for destruction of property or theft, and even then I'm not sure I like the idea of punishing damage to property by damaging a person, even minimally.

But the larger question here is what such a punishment would achieve.
Such behavior is certainly not going to reform the offender and its almost certain to make him/her bitter toward society.
It doesn't at all address any possible underlying reasons for the illegal behavior; the punished individual is left less fit to be a productive member of society than he/she was before.
It doesn't protect anyone, since the individual is presumably immediately back on the street again.

The only possible benefit I can see is that it might act as a deterrent. But as many people have said, the idea of short-term pain isn't terribly useful as a deterrent to adults. So unless you're willing to inflict excruciating suffering (which many would, perhaps accurately, call torture) or permanent damage on minor criminals, I don't see this accomplishing anything.

Not that the current system of punishment is terribly effective, mind you, but I don't think this plan would be a step forward. Though I will say, I applaud pretty much any creative thinking devoted to trying to find a better way to end crime. Just my opinion.

Oh, and for the sake of emotional appeal, can you imagine the response to the State publicly whipping some 19 year old girl because she was caught shop-lifting a CD, or maybe keying her ex-boyfriend's car? That's a recipe for some serious civil unrest.

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These scars come from a classic cowboy/rodeo whip it looks, and yes they are too severe. The whip to be used for corporal punishment should be of the kind with leather strings (see post 15), which wouldnt leave deep scars like that, but its still very painful.

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What? Surely you don't have to talk about future generations to have a case against whipping?

You talk like you have personal experience.

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I believe most people have a distorted sense of Justice. Anyone who thinks whiping someone is going to do anything other than make our justice system less humane (in my opinion) falls into that category.

80% of american prisoners are in for NON-VIOLENT crimes..

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Israel may have the right to put others on trial, but certainly no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of Israel on trial.
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So what? That number would have been significantly lower if corporal punishment were in use nationwide.

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you wouldnt understand the meaning of that statement...it has to do with americas " war on drugs" and the big buisness of privatly owned prisons.

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Israel may have the right to put others on trial, but certainly no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of Israel on trial.
Ariel Sharon
CONGRESSMAN LARRY McDONALD EXPOSES THE NEW WORLD ORDER 1983

I'm all for reinstating it in public schools - hell, I got paddled three times for fighting before I was even in 6th grade.

For criminals? Don't be silly.

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"Compassionate Conservatism"?!?! That is a stupid phrase. Conservatism is inherently compassionate. It is liberalism that is cruel for the sake of maintaining a constituency.

When did the U.S make it unlawful to use corporal punishment in schools?

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Jesus was a communist!

Timj219 hit the nail on the head in post #10.

A society based on personal rights can't afford a judicial branch that relies on retributional punishment instead of protection and preservation of said rights. Nothing is quicker to rip apart a democracy than having governmental functions dictate morality.

Just as well install a theocracy from the get go.

What criminals are even more afraid of is an armed victim.

But to the point, I voted yes, even with the points presented by those with opposing views, I believe corporal punishment, not necessarily done publicly, could do much deter crime and lower crime rates.

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I 100% agree that the "war on drugs" is a hoax and a failure.

In my view corporal punishment, if implemented at all, should be used on criminals whose crimes are violent or destructive in nature, and not trivial like smoking a spliff in your basement.

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"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt."- John Curran

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"Whippings" are certainly a cruel form of punishment.

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