31 August 2008 Pointless Punishments In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman named Hester Prynne is accused of having committed the sinful crime of adultery. She was sent to prison, and after she was released she was forced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her bosom to show her crime, as well to humiliate and shame her, which led to public punishment. In today’s society, public punishment is being used to punish criminals for petty crimes. As their punishment, they literally have to show their crime by wearing a sandwich board that states their crime. Though other national societies approve of public punishment, and it exists in ours, public punishment is not appropriate punishment for today’s society because it causes conflict in validity in the law, which makes it irrelevant to even have that law. Some types of public punishment are cruel and unusual, and violateour American constitutional rights. Public punishment will not help stop crimes or convert criminals into law-abidingcitizens. Also, public punishment could become a usual and common punishment, and will lose its credibility. Various types of public punishment are cruel and unusual, and violate our American constitutional rights. Public punishment goes against one’s constitutional right to privacy. “The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VII) to the United States constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights which took effect in 1791. The amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.” (Eighth Amendment) Once a person is publicly punished it becomes the business of the community and for everyone to know, rather than punishing the criminal in a proper manner under the right to have privacy. As it is cruel and unusual, it is also an ineffective form to bring somebody to justice because of their mental and living conditions. Public punishment is not fair to humiliate those who are homeless and destitute if...