CAB129-78 — Page 265

3

55

Page 265 a lenient attitude by bringing in verdicts of "guilty but insane when not strictly warranted by the evidence, but the proportion of such verdicts has shown no significant trend in this century. The reluctance of juries to convict in the days when theft was a capital crime is well known, and it was evidence that the law had fallen behind public opinion, but no such conclusion can be drawn from the current conduct of juries.

That Hanging is a Cruel and Barbaric Survival

11. The Royal Commission concluded that hanging was quick and painless, and at present the best available method of execution. But although hanging itself is painless the anticipation of it or of any form of capital punishment may cause severe suffering.

That Capital Punishment Inflicts Severe Suffering on Innocent Persons

12. It is said that capital punishment punishes the innocent as well as the guilty in that it inflicts severe suffering on the parents, wives or children of the condemned men. This would be true to some extent of life imprisonment, but it is true that the suffering of near relatives must be severe and is no doubt enhanced by the sensational publicity which attends these cases.

That Hanging is Bad for the Health and Morale of Prison Staffs and Other

Prisoners

13.

The Royal Commission found that some officials, particularly chaplains, were occasionally affected in health. The Commission thought that generally the strain was short-lived and had no lasting adverse effect on health. They thought that duty in the condemned cell tended to bring out the best in the officers concerned (paragraph 781). They were satisfied that though a certain strain among other prisoners was inevitable it did not last long. Executions now take place at a time when the prisoners are at work; the bell is no longer tolled, and the sound of the trap is deadened (paragraphs 783 and 785).

Capital Punishment Leads to Morbid Sensationalism

14. It is true that certain newspapers encourage an unhealthy appetite for the morbid details of capital cases and the condemned cell. But if there were no capital punishment these papers would still foster the same kind of interest in murder. They live by sensation, and murder will still remain sensational even if it does not lead to the death cell.

B.—The Arguments Against Abolition of Capital Punishment

The Presumed Deterrent Effect

15. The main argument for retaining capital punishment turns also on its deterrent effect. Even if statistical proof is lacking, common sense suggests that the fear of death must be a forceful deterrent, at least in certain cases. It is known where the deterrent is not effective but can never be known how many persons were in fact deterred. The Royal Commission's conclusions are not inconsistent with this. They said: --

•

"Capital punishment has obviously failed as a deterrent when a murder is committed. We can number its failures. But we cannot number its successes. No one can ever tell how many people have refrained from murder because of the fear of being hanged.

We think it reasonable to suppose that the deterrent force of capital punishment operates not only by affecting the conscious thoughts of individuals tempted to commit murder, but also by building up in the community, over a long period of time, a deep feeling of peculiar abhorrence for the crime of murder. . . . .

... This widely diffused effect on the moral consciousness of society is impossible to assess, but it must be at least as important as any direct part which the death penalty may play as a deterrent in the calculations of potential murderers. It is likely to be specially potent in this country, where the punishment for lesser offences is much more lenient than in many other countries, and the death penalty stands out in sharper contrast " (paragraph 59).

49234 Page 265 of 321

B 2

Page 265