Deck 15: Legal Punishment

Question 1

According to the retributivist argument,all those who commit serious crimes must "pay" for them and we determine how much they should pay only by considering how serious was their crime.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

What is the meaning of "lex talionis"?

A) Fair and Square.
B) Justice Comes to All.
C) An Eye for An Eye.
D) The Talons of a Lexus are Strong.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

To suggest that capital punishment is a different moral question for nomadic peoples living in tents or other temporary shelters than for societies with maximum-security prisons is what kind of reasoning?

A) Utilitarianism
B) Natural law
C) Relativism
D) Kantian

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The cost of life in prison without parole compared to an execution is

A) Slightly higher.
B) Significantly lower.
C) About twice as much.
D) About the same.

Question 5

Retributivists would support a not guilty plea for persons who are in fact "insane" for,because of their mental dysfunction,they then are not responsible for what they do.

Question 6

According to consequentialist reasoning,if other measures than imprisonment work better to deter or prevent crime then we ought to use these other measures.

Question 7

According to a consequentialist argument regarding legal punishment,if a form of punishment is not deterring anyone from crime,then it cannot be justified.

Question 8

The fact that having capital punishment "on the table" causes many people to confess to crimes in order to have death "taken off the table" is what kind of ethical reasoning?

A) Relativism
B) Natural law
C) Categorical imperative
D) Utilitarianism

Question 9

How many black high school dropouts are prisoners or ex-convicts by the time they reach their mid thirties?

A) 6%
B) 30%
C) 45%
D) 60%

Question 10

Which of our moral theories is most likely to be used in support of the retribution argument for capital punishment?

A) Categorical imperative
B) Virtue ethics
C) Utilitarianism
D) Relativism

Question 11

Which of the following types of crime will always be difficult to deter?

A) Perjury.
B) Shoplifting.
C) Crimes of bribery.
D) Crimes of passion.

Question 12

Since 1989,there have been ________ convicts who were found innocent due to DNA testing.

A) 17
B) 88
C) 134
D) 302

Question 13

A retributivist argument for legal punishment is one according to which persons who break laws must be punished so that we can get personal satisfaction.

Question 14

A retributivist would uphold a just punishment for certain crimes even if the imposition of this punishment did not deter anyone from committing such crimes.

Question 15

According to the deterrence argument for legal punishment,any kind of punishment is justified no matter what the consequences.

Question 16

Retributivists always support a lex talionis view and thus always will support the death penalty for murderers (as being a life for a life).

Question 17

Which country has the highest incarceration rate in the world?

A) United States
B) Singapore
C) China
D) Russia

Question 18

Which of the following is a true positive in utilitarian reasoning for capital punishment?

A) It works as a general deterrent.
B) It works as an individual deterrent.
C) It saves tax money.
D) Most Americans support it.

Question 19

Indeterminate sentences would be more likely to be favored by those with a retributivist than those with a deterrence viewpoint.

Question 20

If all acts are determined by various causal factors,then on retributivist grounds punishment as such is unjustified.

Question 21

Give one problem associated with the deterrence argument for the death penalty and one associated with the retributivist argument.

Question 22

Give one good point about and one problem associated with either the consequentialist or the retributivist argument for legal punishment (not the death penalty but legal punishment generally).