Recidivism, Proportionalism, and Individualized Punishment

Politicians, armed with opinion polls for support, rush to enact crime bills where sentences grow steeper, where higher minimum sentences are made mandatory, and where the death sentence is applied in more cases. Despite apparent support from suspect polls, the empirical question remains: Does community sentiment favor “steeper-firmer-deadlier” punishments that are disproportionate to the act and invariate to the actors, or does sentiment favor individualized and proportionate punishment? In experiments dealing with recidivist, accessory felony-murder, and perpetrator-by-means cases—where the law asks for excessive or invariate punishment—subjects favor proportional and individualized punishment and judge defendants based on perceived culpability.