Before we defined criminal law from civil law there were no specific distinction between codes of practice and offenses. The Sumerians are credited with designing the very first versions of written law codes. Criminal law was designed to be distinctive as a form of punishment that was imposed for serious crimes, such as murder, and was punishable by a caning or a whipping in ancient civilizations.
The Five Objectives
It was the ‘five objectives’ that were noted as to the enforcement of a crime and those were retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and restoration. Retribution required that the perpetrator should pay for their crime in some way, by some kind of suffering, hence the whipping.
The deterrent was meant as a way of deterring the criminal from ever committing such a crime again. As an example we could refer to the loss of the hand as a way of paying recompense for stealing. The criminal would be less likely to want to lose the other hand by trying that again.
The incapacitation idea was to keep serious criminals away from general society as a means of protecting the innocent. This could have meant being banished from their homes and land, death or prison.
Rehabilitation was designed as a method for transforming a criminal into a decent law abiding citizen, so that once they are rehabilitated they do not want to commit another crime. This method was usually accomplished by educating the criminal as to the wrongness of their conduct.
Finally, the restoration method, whereby the victim is allowed, if they wish, to inflict their own form of punishment on the criminal. For instance, they may choose to have a hand cut off or have them spiked through the eyes—during Medieval times—to make up for the loss they had inflicted on them. Many of the victims, being more kind-hearted than the criminal, may have simply chosen to forgive them and thereby inflicting such guilt on the criminal that they may choose to pay their own restitution to the victim.
A Criminal Attorney In Cincinnati would have to abide by the moderns laws of Ohio, if they are representing a criminal in a serious case. Although many states still offer the death penalty as a punishment, many have opted out in recent years.
Call Levy Law Offices to find a criminal attorney in Cincinnati. Their services cover all manner of legal incidents and they can represent you on many issues.
