why has punishment in the USA weakened since the 1800's?

Question

In the 1800's people were executed fairly quickly for murder, horse theft,or cheating at cards.Today car theives get a year in jail,murders get a few years ,life in prison, or death in 20 years, and card cheating will get you kicked out of casinos.

Answer 1

i guess we became more civilized. laws changed to make it fair......fair trial and stuff.

Answer 2

Well, you had a couple of decades where they weren't sentencing anyone to death. It wasn't allowed. In the 1800's a courts decision was usually carried out fairly quickly, where today people sit on death row for decades. Look at Bundy, Gacy, and Starkwether.

We have gotten soft on executions. Timothy McVeigh had his carried out quickly, but he told his lawyers to stop the appeals. Plus, it was a Federal case, where justice tends to be swift.

Answer 3

As civilizations evolve there's less emphasis on the harshness of punishment and more on crime prevention.

The US still has the death penalty. Name one industrialized nation that doesn't have it with a higher murder rate than ours.

Answer 4

Because we are nice and try to become more and more civilized. Also, the courts are more powerful, there are more lawyers to protect due process rights and fundamental liberties (like life).

Answer 5

Because these days the criminals have more rights then the victims, because for some strange reason people feel this is more "civilized".

Answer 6

I would say the founding of the ACLU in 1920 had a lot to do with it.

Answer 7

Liberals. Namely the ACLU (American Communist Lawyers Union).

Answer 8

It's called evolution. We have become a more evolved society.