#penality

Shimano agrees to a $11.5M penalty to be paid to the CPSC for failing to recall its Hollowtech II cranksets. @Shimano recently settled a class action over the cranksets. https://rec-law.us/2p84rx2x

काठमाडौं, २ मंसि४ मंसिरमा हुने प्रतिनिधिसभा र प्रदेशसभा निर्वाचनका लागि बिहीबार मध्यरातिबाट मौन अवधि सुरु भएको छ । योसँगै राजनीतिक दल, उम्मेदवार तथा दलका पदाधिकारीले चुनावी प्रचार गर्न बन्द गरिएको निर्वाचन आयोगले जनाएको छ । सञ्चार माध्यमले कुनै पनि प्रकारका चुनावी प्रचार सामग्री सम्प्रेषण गर्न पाउने छैनन् ।  मतदान सुरु हुनु ४८ घण्टाअघिदेखि मौन अवधि तोकेको हो । मतदान नसकिएसम्म मौन अवधि कायम…

In David Garland’s piece, “Penality and the Penal State” he does not discern any particular opinion regarding the penal system in America. Instead he pinpoints some key points that are important to showcase. First of all, one main point to take into consideration is the idea that punishment and the penal system are very much related to crime and crime rates. (pg.487) This is not to say that there is a guaranteed correlation all the time but rather there is a linkage that can’t be ignored.

In his piece, he tries to address issues regarding imprisonment and he points out a few elements, which included how punishment spurs from public demand, treating general threats of social disorder and also as a sense of a secure state. (pg.488). While a large portion of the penal system is driven by the state officials acting in preference of the popular opinion, a smaller degree makes it likely that penal policy is dictated by opinion polls and media. (pg.497). For example, after Brock Turner’s case, the state of California had their legislation changed to enforce a mandatory sentence for individuals in his case. This case made all forms of social media platforms, which placed immense pressure on the court. In Garland’s piece, he says that where there is more blindness from society, there is more room for autonomous penal policy. But whom does this freedom benefit? Garland suggests that this might be a growth of power and autonomy for the elite and those who already had power.

By showcasing to the public all the issues with the penal system, the system can just use the simple forms of negative power, which would be incarceration of the individual in a secure confinement. (pg.502). Through the growth of new age media, individuals have continued access to Intel that wasn't available to them prior. In the case of mental facilities, insane asylums have been around for centuries but it is just in recent years that society has recognized the possibility of treatment. By pushing for new changing policies, society could head in a new direction.

One of the reasons why society hasn’t grown the new policies is due to the idea that by changing the penal system would mean weakness. In a piece by Gottschalk and Novak they claim that growth of American penality is a sure sign of a strong domestic state and people are often afraid of weakness.  In a more modern example, Trump appealed to the voters driven by punitive anger and fear of crime to demand harsher sentences and he appealed to the idea of “making America great again” (pg.507) But this radical thinking might not be the solution for a conclusive and inclusive penal system.

Individuals can’t be treated as a weakness nor can they be seen as a social disorder. They have a right to get the treatment they deserve and with this current penal system it is a barrier to providing any form of support. With this new form of radical thinking, individuals might be driven to be more fearsome of their environment and this continues to be the last thing society needed to drive great progress. 

SOURCES: 

California lawmakers pass bill inspired by Brock Turner case. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/politics/california-mandatory-prison-unconscious-intoxicated-brock-turner/

GARLAND, D. (2013). penality and the penal state. Criminology, 51(3), 475-517. doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12015