Dictionary

overpunish en · VERB

Etymology

From over- + punish.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To punish excessively; to issue a punishment that is harsher than necessary.
   • The United States currently incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, according to the Population Reference Bureau. John C. Jeffries Jr., today’s morning lecturer, will propose ways to combat a prison system that often “oversentences and overpunishes.” 2013 July 29, Maggie Livingstone, “Jeffries to address ‘oversentencing’ in U.S. justice system”, in The Chautauquan Daily, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2024:
   • After each one of the two cards has been presented, the overpunished child will invariably say that the father (or mother) is going to hit the child with a belt, or fist, or some other implement; the child will feel bad; the child will be mad at the parent; and the child will want to run away, or less commonly, want to strike the parent back. 1976 March 1, Ralph S. Welsh, “VIOLENCE, PERMISSIVENESS THE OVERPUNISHED CHILD”, in Journal of Pediatric Psychology, volume 1, number 2, →DOI, page 68:
   • Such analysis introduces significant legal uncertainty and may lead to excessive deterrence against wolf packing. In an increasingly crowded activist market, there is a real risk of overpunishing wolf-pack activism: stock prices may suffer due to increased market uncertainty over the legality and potential success of activist campaigns, including those that may yield value for shareholders. 2016, Robert Cyran, Richard Beales, NY TIMES, “Unpacking Wolf Packs”, in the yale law journal, volume 125, number 773, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2023:
   • The emphasis on prosecution and conviction as metrics of success leads police and prosecutors to overarrest, overprosecute, and overpunish low-level drug and other crimes in many cases. 2017, Sharon Dolovich, Alexandra Natapoff, The New Criminal Justice Thinking, page 61:

Forms

Relateds

punitive · make an example of · overpunishment · cruel and unusual punishment