For centuries, governments have acted on behalf of society by eliminating and punishing criminals with the goal of protecting its citizens. The criminals were arrested and locked up in prisons awaiting sentencing. Once convicted, they were publicly humiliated, tortured or killed. Early forms of punishment were cruel and focused primarily on retribution. State and Federal Goals of Punishment Today, punishment is the most dominant corrective goal of both state and federal governments in response to crime. The purpose of punishment is to protect society, rehabilitate criminals, and reduce recidivism. In both state and federal penitentiary institutions, their goals are to use punishment as a form of deterrence by incapacitating and rehabilitating offenders. For punishment to be successful, it must be so unpleasant that it hopefully discourages inmates from returning to such a life and also discourages others from taking part in such activities. In response to growing public concern about crime, politicians have taken a tough-on-crime approach when dealing with lawbreakers and pushed for new legislation to stop criminals from further harming or terrorizing the company. Citizens believe that it is right that criminals pay for their actions and get what they deserve. These new legislations established sentencing requirements for several crimes, which can be found in the state penal code. penal codes. Before sentencing offenders, judges are required to choose from a series of mandatory sentences… center of paper… these offenders were individuals who had committed minor crimes and had no previous convictions. During the preliminary hearing the judge would sentence them to a community-based program such as probation. While this may not seem sufficient to reduce the current prison population, it is undoubtedly a step in the right direction in combating prison overcrowding. (Seiter, 2011) Works Cited Seiter, R. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Seabrook, N. (September 2005). Violence in prisons on the rise. United States today. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2724_134/ai_n15380394/pg_2/Bureau of Justice Statistics. (October 2008). Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2005, (p1-2). Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/csfcf05.pdf