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An additional reason in favor of making the punishment for this harsher than for murder is that as I understand it it's often the case that the severity of a se
by divia 18y ago
An additional reason in favor of making the punishment for this harsher than for murder is that as I understand it it's often the case that the severity of a sentence is related to the chance of getting caught. I bet it's a lot easier to catch a murderer than a corrupt judge, so to deter the judge, we need a longer sentence. I've heard this as an explanation for why arson has such stiff sentences--most arsonists aren't caught.
- joeyo 18y agoThis principle doesn't make any sense to me. The severity of the sentence is (or should be) proportional to the severity of the crime. In this case, the harm that a corrupt judge can cause is extremely large, and society does not tolerate this. The reason why arson has such a stiff sentence--and indeed why arson of one's own house is illegal--is because fire has the potential to spread, killing many people and destroying many properties. If you think back to the middle ages, when the common law principles of arson arose (think wood dwellings with thatch roofs and few or no fire brigades), fire spread more rapidly and was more deadly than it is even today. As such, the punishment had to be severe.