Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and motivation for committing it, should be taken into action when deciding on the punishment. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

It is true that some people argue that punishment should be fixed to the type of unlawful act committed, although there are several reasons to believe that this would greatly help, it seems to me and a section of other people that circumstances of separate crime and the motive that lead to committing such illegal acts should be taken into account when deciding a way to punish culprits. On the one hand, the belief that fixing punishment would be beneficial is because, this would instil fear in people and hence reduce the rate of involvement in crime, furthermore, if a person understands the fact that if he commits murder he would be sentenced to death, this would reduce the rate at which people do such crime for fear of death. Secondly, it would create a clear judicial system, removing all the doubts that could be thought of as in relation to tribalism or malicious thoughts. For instance, when an individual of a different Tribe is sentenced by the judge of another tribe in circumstances when punishment are not fixed, there would be thoughts that tribal differences took the centre stage or even malice but I the system is fixed, there would be satisfaction but also trust in the system. On the other hand, I believe it would be beneficial that every individual is given a fair hearing from the courts of law. People who have done these unlawful actions out of anger or even more as motivated by poor social economic status should not be dealt the same. For example, a report released by international police indicated that there were increased crime during covid 19 lockdown related to poverty as it left many without employment especially those who were regarded as non-essential workers. Moreover, due to wars in different countries some young people were abducted and recruited into the army without their consent, so I believe such people should be given a chance to defend themselves on such grounds. For instance, there are people in international courts of law that were recruited while they were young and were involved in murder but regret the acts they did in such times when they had no options. Therefore, such individuals deserve a different way of punishment. In conclusion, although some people think that there should be a fixed way of punishing, I argue that depending on circumstances that led to their involvement and motives that led to their involvement in crime should be put into consideration while deciding on their punishment