Beccaria’s Theory:

There are three main legs in which Beccaria’s theory rests. Those are that all individuals possess freewill, rational manner and manipulability. Beccaria, like all classical theorists, believe that all individuals have freewill and make choices on that freewill. The second leg, rational manner, means that all individuals rationally look out for their own personal satisfaction. This is key to the relationship between laws and crime. While individuals will rationally look for their best interest, and this might entail deviant acts and the law, which goal is to preserve the social contract, will try to stop deviant acts. This ends up with the individuals and the society rationally looking for satisfaction, and at times these interests clash. The third leg in which Beccaria’s theory rest is manipulablibily, universally shared human motive of rational self-interest makes human action predictable, generalable and controllable. The job of the criminal justice system is to control all deviant acts that an individual with freewill and rational thought might do in the pursuit of personal pleasure. This is made easier by the fact that human actions are predicable and controllable. With the right punishment or threat the criminal justice system can control the freewilled and rational human being. The problem the criminal justice system has is finding the right punishment or threats.

Beccaria expresses not only the need for the criminal justice system, but also the government’s right to have laws and punishments. He believed in the social contract, or the idea that freewill and rational individuals made a choice to live in a society instead of living alone. When one chooses to live in a society, then one chooses to give up some personal liberties in exchange for the safety and comfort of a society. Laws are designed as the framework of the society and the rules for which acts are encouraged or prohibited. Laws are the conditions of a society of freewilled and rational individuals. There is a need to have some system set up in order to ensure that the individuals in the society are protected against any individual or groups that want to take back the personal liberties forfeited in the social contract and those who want to also harm the personal liberties of others in the society. In "On Crimes and Punishments" Beccaria states, "but merely to have established this deposit was not enough; it had to be defended against private usurpation by individuals each of whom always tries not only to withdraw his own share but also to usurp for himself that of others". So there is a need for and a right to have laws and a criminal justice system to ensure that all individuals in society obey or follow the social contract.

Beccaria is considered the father of the 8th Amendment: No cruel or unusual punishment and no excessive bail