| Who here has seen Clash of the Titans? There's a scene, near the beginning, where Calybos tells his mother, the goddess Thetis, that he demands justice against those who have wronged him. His mother replies, "Justice? Or revenge?"
Historically speaking, justice was restitution -- restoring to the victim what he had lost. Of course, this has its limits. If you cut off a person's arm, for example, how can you restore it to him? Even worse is when you "cut off" a person's life completely. Then the victim no longer exists, for all intents and purposes. Restitution here would seem to be impossible.
I would imagine that murder is considered the most serious crime by far because it is the one crime that has no real restitution. So how should it be dealt with? Do you treat it like other crimes, which means putting a certain value on a person's life? Do you kill the murderer in turn? Do you "lock him up" forever? Is there even any one right answer here?
A lot of people believe in "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". But I think most of them forget about the corollary to this that existed in ancient times. If a man accused another of an offense, and it was determined that he bore false witness, he would receive the punishment instead of the falsely accused. So obviously, for example, a man recommending the death penalty against another would himself be killed if he bears false witness. We don't seem to have anything like that in this day and age. Honestly, I think it would be an important check on those willing to provide false witness.
Also, I fail to see how exile no longer works. One could argue that prison is "internal exile", but there may be an even more effective form -- the old concept of outlawing. If a murderer is convicted and made an outlaw, his victim's survivors may kill him with impunity, if they so desire. This lays the responsibility for murdering the murderer squarely with those who would most want to see him dead. I think it's easier to have someone killed by someone else than to do it yourself.
- Rob |