RETIRING MAGISTRATE FAVOURS WHIPPING AS CRIME DETERRENT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 74, 28 July 1948, Page 7

RETIRING MAGISTRATE FAVOURS WHIPPING AS CRIME DETERRENT

The opinion that whipping was necessary as a deterrent to juvenile delinquency was expressed by Mr J. Miller, retiring magistrate at Napier, at a gathering held to mark the close of his career with the Justice Department. Mr Miller said there was nothing brutal about the punishment and, moreover, it was rarely infl cted. The punishment, he stressed, was carried out by a constable in the presence of a sergeant of the police. “Whipping,” said Mr Miller, “proved deterrent. It was rarely used, and then only in cases of delinquency where the culprit did not respond to other treatment. Mr Miller said whipping was necessary for varying reasons, among them the fact that adult criminals did not go round in gangs, whereas juveniles did, thereby contacting youth of respectable upbringing arid leading them astray. .He added that juvenile delinquency was difficult to detect, and it was particularly difficult at times to catch the ring-leaders. . “Whipping is necessary to save these respectable boys from the leaders,” said Mr Miller, “and there is no' doubt that a good whipping will do much towards breaking up juvenile delinquency.”