NCJ Number
153762
Editor(s)
R M Baird,
S E Rosenbaum
Date Published
1995
Length
246 pages
Annotation
Essays in this volume indicate that the caning sentence of Michael Fay in Singapore and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun's public reununciation of capital punishment have intensified current debate over punishment in general and capital punishment in particular.
Abstract
The essays are organized in two parts, the justification for punishment and capital punishment. Essays in the first part focus on retributivist and utilitarian views of punishment, the justification of punishment as a social institution, the deterrent function of punishment, punishment versus rehabilitation, and the fair play principle as a means of justifying punishment. In examining capital punishment, essays in the second part discuss the history of capital punishment in the United States, punishment of the innocent, arguments for and against capital punishment, the death penalty's deterrent effect, the morality of anger, the arbitrary administration of capital punishment, and the relationship between capital punishment and contemporary values. References, notes, and tables