Amelioration of short-term punishments can only have
an indirect influence by way of palliation; but it is the actual
imprisonment for a short term which is trifling and unavailing.
At the same time, and not to mention other objections on points of
detail, specially applicable to the form given to conditional
sentences on the continent of Europe, as compared with the
American system, (which is certainly better, since it does not
leave the offender to himself, and is not restricted to the simple
legal relapse), I am not enthusiastically in favour of the
conditional sentence. And my lack of enthusiasm, in spite of the
first impression, which was decidedly favourable, is based on
different grounds from those hitherto stated by the opponents of
this reform.
In the earliest edition of this work I maintained that repression
ought to be mild in form for occasional criminals, and
progressively severe for recidivists and habitual evildoers, until
it reached perpetual segregation. The Italian proverb, that ``the
first fault is pardoned and the second whipped,'' is an
unconscious confirmation of the popular opinion. And from this
point of view the conditional sentence, if combined as in the
French law with progressive severity of repression for
recidivists, is sufficiently attractive in the first instance.
Pages:
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375