Historical and Philosophical Look at the Death Penalty - Does It Serve Society's Needs, A
Loading...
Authors
Krivosha, Norman
Copple, Robert
McDonough, Michael
Issue Date
1983
Volume
16
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|George Santayana, writing in "The Life of Reason," said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Nowhere does this admonition seem to be more appropriate than in connection with capital punishment. Mankind always has used capital punishment, first employing it as a means to deter crime and then abandoning it because of its apparent failure to accomplish its assigned task--only to reestablish it when the results of its earlier failure are forgotten. An examination of the history of capital punishment discloses that a cycle has been repeated periodically obviously because we "cannot remember the past." The arguments for and against capital punishment are fairly standard and have varied little over the centuries. Those supporting capital punishment generally argue that capital punishment is necessary to deter crime. As further justification for employing the death penalty, the proponents argue that the imposition of the death penalty is in keeping with the biblical direction of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." They further argue that the "high" incident of violent crime today is because we have not executed convicted felons regularly as we have in the past. They argue that if violent criminals knew that they would be executed they would refrain from violent crime. The opponents make the obvious counter-arguments. They maintain that because murder is an irrational act, deterrence does not play any role in preventing the crime. They further maintain...
Description
Citation
16 Creighton L. Rev. 1 (1982-1983)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law