Suppose that the U.S. Congress passed a new law that punished shoplifting with a mandatory eighty-five year prison term. What would be the impact of the new law on shoplifting nationwide? Would such a harsh law be justified by its deterrent effect? What about imposing a similarly extreme punishment on a more serious crime – a mandatory sentence of life in prison or, say, drunk driving? Would such a law be in society’s best interest? Why or why not?

Note: You are being required to write an essay between 1,000-1,500 words in length, not including your abstract, cover page and reference page. The essays will be written in APA format and style. All essay submissions must be a Word Document. For maximum points, please reference external research or examples. Essays are due by 11:59pm on Sunday within the module they are assigned. Do not email your assignment to your professor or post within the submission text box. You will submit your paper (Word Document) as an attached file within this Module 11 – Assignment. Please be aware that if your Turnitin rating comes back as over 20%, I will red flag it as plagiarism!