'Mercy' is compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power.
'Justice should be tempered with mercy' has a reference to Portia's speech in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It means the offender may have justly deserved a harsher punishment. If justice is tempered by mercy, it is adjusted to satisfy the idea of ‘mercy’. Hence the judge is less severe.
If someone has done something wrong, justice often leads to punishment, whether by a parent or teacher towards a child, or by a court towards a person who has committed an unlawful act. Punishment can sometimes be harsh. It suggests that while justice be done, the punishment has to softened by kindness.
No one can accept that "eye for an eye" or "tooth for tooth" or the "law of retaliation" is just. Any justice untouched by spark of humanity or mercy is savage as justice is not tempered with mercy. If you forgive no man their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
Criminal courts are halls of justice, not halls of mercy. Prosecutors often ask for the maximum penalty for the offense to be leveled against the defendant. Justice ought to be tempered with mercy, as mercy can make for good public policy. Almost all of those who go to prison are poor, and the handful who aren’t the state seems determined to make broke before they are released. When a judge sends someone to prison, the goal should be not just to punish them for their crimes, but to ensure that when they are released they become productive members of society. Making sure an inmate is financially wiped out upon release isn’t the way to do that.
Justice is not equivalent to meted punishment for moral and legal wrong. Justice is relinquishing what is due. When justice is abused, law rarely repairs the social rift. Instead it discourages repeated social rifts. If the criminal is ungrateful he will continue his behavior. Society may choose that risk rather than ruining the life and reputation of an individual over a single incident of indiscretion.
Very rarely people change themselves, especially for good. In the name of civilization, humanity and religion, if punishments are lenient, it promotes and encourages wrongdoings which are inherently profitable. Unless risk is high and profit is low, people will be tempted towards wrong doings. Therefore punishments must be harsh.
'Justice should be tempered with mercy' has a reference to Portia's speech in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It means the offender may have justly deserved a harsher punishment. If justice is tempered by mercy, it is adjusted to satisfy the idea of ‘mercy’. Hence the judge is less severe.
If someone has done something wrong, justice often leads to punishment, whether by a parent or teacher towards a child, or by a court towards a person who has committed an unlawful act. Punishment can sometimes be harsh. It suggests that while justice be done, the punishment has to softened by kindness.
No one can accept that "eye for an eye" or "tooth for tooth" or the "law of retaliation" is just. Any justice untouched by spark of humanity or mercy is savage as justice is not tempered with mercy. If you forgive no man their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
Criminal courts are halls of justice, not halls of mercy. Prosecutors often ask for the maximum penalty for the offense to be leveled against the defendant. Justice ought to be tempered with mercy, as mercy can make for good public policy. Almost all of those who go to prison are poor, and the handful who aren’t the state seems determined to make broke before they are released. When a judge sends someone to prison, the goal should be not just to punish them for their crimes, but to ensure that when they are released they become productive members of society. Making sure an inmate is financially wiped out upon release isn’t the way to do that.
Justice is not equivalent to meted punishment for moral and legal wrong. Justice is relinquishing what is due. When justice is abused, law rarely repairs the social rift. Instead it discourages repeated social rifts. If the criminal is ungrateful he will continue his behavior. Society may choose that risk rather than ruining the life and reputation of an individual over a single incident of indiscretion.
Once a junkie, always a junkie.
Very rarely people change themselves, especially for good. In the name of civilization, humanity and religion, if punishments are lenient, it promotes and encourages wrongdoings which are inherently profitable. Unless risk is high and profit is low, people will be tempted towards wrong doings. Therefore punishments must be harsh.
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