A bill is in the works that proposes to authorize "judicial corporal punishment" or caning for those convicted of serious crimes on Guam.

Freshman Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas posted a copy of the front page of the legislation on his Facebook page.

He wrote, "I promised to address crime and punishment...and here is my solution!"  He adds that the details are still being worked out and will be introduced soon.

But according to a Department of Justice website, there is no provision for judicial corporal punishment in federal or state law.  However, several states continue to allow for the spanking of children in schools.

KUAM is still waiting to hear back from San Nicolas.

Dededo resident Lawrence Richardson said he's not on board. 

"I don't think private caning is the way to go. I think it should be public so that we can see whether there's abuse. You don't want abuse," he said. "You just want to let that person know that there's a payment he doesn't like and you want to control it getting out of hand. Privately, I don't think you can control it."

KUAM also spoke with Frank Crisostomo, retired prison warden.

"We have to respect the process here, we have to respect the law, the local statute and also the federal statute, depending on the type of crimes being committed," he said. "People are innocent until proven guilty and we have to respect the law, the constitution.

Most countries have banned corporal punishment, with the notable exception of Singapore where public canings continue, and are a holdover from British colonial rule."