A view from death row
Article Abstract:
The Supreme Court put forward deterrence and retribution as rationales for reinstating the death penalty in 1976. However, neither of these rationales holds up under examination. Many studies have demonstrated that executions do not deter violent crime. Neither premeditated murderers nor those who kill spontaneously are likely to be deterred by a possible death sentence. Retribution fails as an argument because it overlooks the dehumanizing effect of capital punishment on society. Life sentences without the chance for parole would satisfy the need to protect the public.
Publication Name: Human Rights
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0046-8185
Year: 1995
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
How many innocent men will be killed?
Article Abstract:
The large number of known instances when people condemned to death for a crime have later shown their innocence and won freedom necessarily implies that innocent people have also been executed. The presence and use of a death penalty, combined with an imperfect justice system requiring only proof of guilt 'beyond a reasonable doubt,' will always condemn to death some innocent people. A Miami Herald article reported on 14 such cases, and a Stanford Law Review article found 349.
Publication Name: Human Rights
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0046-8185
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Crime, punishment, and 'champagne socialism.' (Author John Mortimer's view on capital punishment and crime in the United Kingdom)
Article Abstract:
Writer John Mortimer's character Horace Rumpole displays Mortimer's own zest for defending the unpopular, and the 'Rumpole of the Bailey' stories have won fans of all types in Britain and the US. Rompole is a composite of other defenders Mortimer has worked with, his father, and the author himself. Mortimer advocates early intervention and crime prevention, believing few criminals are ever caught so stiff penalties exert little influence.
Publication Name: Human Rights
Subject: Social sciences
ISSN: 0046-8185
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: A pro and con debate: how much campaign finance reform do we need? The reality of LSC cutbacks: how one state is dealing with reduced funding
- Abstracts: Silence is the voice of complicity. Many voices, one world. The invisible bridge: child sexual abuse and the risk of HIV infection in adulthood
- Abstracts: Sounds of crisis. Treaty of alliance with France. The treaty of Kanagawa opens up Japan
- Abstracts: "We always have a beer after the meeting": How norms, customs, conventions, and like explain behavior. Techscope
- Abstracts: California uses promotion as recruiting tool. GAR's lasting link in the unbroken patriotic chain