2008 - Friday Fun - Crime and punishment
Crime and punishment are not new issues. As this piece from The Black Country Bugle shows.
Unfortunately, crime has always played a part in the society we live in. Ever since our ancestors began to settled down in villages and townships and establish laws, there have been individuals intent on breaking them, either through enforced circumstances, or plain ill-will. But what may have been adjudged as a crime fit for severe punishment by one generation, was perhaps dealt with more leniently by another.
The death penalty for murder and treason was still available for courts to administer just a couple of generations ago, but now such a severe punishment has been abolished in this country, and frowned upon by the majority of other nations in the world. The measure of punishment for each crime is always a hotly contested debate, with so called soft options often endgendering exasperation in many. These days, more than at any time in history, there is a widespread feeling that in too many cases criminals 'get away with murder'.
How then would the criminals of the 21st century have been dealt with during the reign of Victoria, when life was a darned sight harder than it is today? The misty, rather romanticised view of life in the Black Country 150 years ago, is brought into stark reality when you read about misdemeanours that probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow today, but back then were dealt with severely in the local courts; for instance, a month's imprisonment for throwing stones. On...