The proposed method is the indeterminate sentence. This strikes directly
at the criminal class. It puts that class beyond the power of continuing
its depredations upon society. It is truly deterrent, because it is a
notification to any one intending to enter upon that method of living
that his career ends with his first felony. As to the general effects of
the indeterminate sentence, I will repeat here what I recently wrote for
the Yale Law Journal.
It happens, therefore, that there is great sympathy with the career of
the lawbreakers, many people are hanging on them for support, and among
them the so-called criminal lawyers. Any legislation likely to interfere
seriously with the occupation of the criminal class or with its increase
is certain to meet with the opposition of a large body of voters. With
this active opposition of those interested, and the astonishing
indifference of the general public, it is easy to see why so little is
done to relieve us of this intolerable burden. The fact is, we go on
increasing our expenses for police, for criminal procedure, for jails and
prisons, and we go on increasing the criminal class and those affiliated
with it.
I will suggest that the convict should, for his own sake, have the
indeterminate sentence applied to him upon conviction of his first penal
offense. He is much more likely to reform then than he would be after he
had had a term in the State prison and was again convicted, and the
chance of his reformation would be lessened by each subsequent experience
of this kind. The great object of the indeterminate sentence, so far as
the security of society is concerned, is to diminish the number of the
criminal class, and this will be done when it is seen that the first
felony a man commits is likely to be his last, and that for a young
criminal contemplating this career there is in this direction:
"No Thoroughfare."
It is very significant that the criminal class adapted itself readily to
the parole system with its sliding scale. It was natural that this
should be so, for it fits in perfectly well with their scheme of life.
This is to them a sort of business career, interrupted now and then only
by occasional limited periods of seclusion. Any device that shall
shorten those periods is welcome to them. As a matter of fact, we see in
the State prisons that the men most likely to shorten their time by good
behavior, and to get released on parole before the expiration of their
sentence, are the men who make crime their career. They accept this
discipline as a part of their lot in life, and it does not interfere with
their business any more than the occasional bankruptcy of a merchant
interferes with his pursuits.
No tribunal is able with justice to mete out punishment in any individual
case, for probably the same degree of guilt does not attach to two men in
the violation of the same statute.
It is purely an economic and educational problem, and must rest upon the
same principles that govern in any successful industry, or in education,
and that we recognize in the conduct of life. That little progress has
been made is due to public indifference to a vital question and to the
action of sentimentalists, who, in their philanthropic zeal; fancy that a
radical reform can come without radical discipline. We are largely
wasting our energies in petty contrivances instead of striking at the
root of the evil.