NCJ Number
81080
Date Published
1981
Length
283 pages
Annotation
The dissertation outlines the evolution of penal codification in Puerto Rico, with special attention to the penal code of 1974, and develops a sentencing model with scaled penalties.
Abstract
After defining the basic elements of penal codification, the author describes the Hispanic basis for Puerto Rican law and the establishment of the first Puerto Rican penal code in 1902, which was based on the Anglo-Saxon model of the California Penal Code of 1893. Because of numerous criticisms of this transplanted code, reform attempts were undertaken, leading to a revised code in 1974. However, the 1974 code maintained the same strictly punitive approach to sentencing as the 1902 code, despite the rehabilitative posture of the drafters, and in general represented a patchwork of uncoordinated provisions not improved by further nominal reforms in 1980. This study seeks to encourage modern codification efforts by providing guidelines for scaled crimes and punishments. The national-level offense Wolfgang-Sellin seriousness scale forms the basis for offense rating, while penalties are to conform to the principles of parsimony, non-arbitrariness, and differential sanctioning. According to the proposed model, each criminal event is given a weighted seriousness score proportionate to the degree of social harm or risk involved in the conduct. An appropriate sanction can then be imposed based on the aims of retribution or protection. Footnotes, a bibliography, an index, and an appendix containing the results of the National Survey of Crime Severity are furnished.