About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 J. E. Marshall, Review of E. Roy Calvert's Capital Punishment in the Twentieth Century 74 (1929)

handle is hein.death/rercc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ( 74 ) Art. 5.-CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Capital Punishment in the Twentieth Century. By E. Roy Calvert. 3rd Edition. Putnam, 1928. IT may not be out of place that one who, during twenty- six years on the Bench of the Egyptian Courts, has probably judged more cases of murder and manslaughter than most living men, should sum up the case for and against Capital Punishment. So far as we have any authentic record the Death Penalty probably owes its inception and its force to the earlier chapters of the Old Testament. Almost co-eval with the Creation in the Bible story, in Genesis ix, 6, it is uncompromisingly laid down that : ' Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of God made He man.' In Exodus xxi, 12 we read : ' He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.' And in Numbers xxxv the laws of murder and man- slaughter are codified and are remorseless in their vindictive severity. There can be little doubt that the Mosaic law was the inspiration which guided the early law-givers of Europe in framing their punishment for the crime of murder. This law has justly been called the ' lex talionis,' and whatever may have been its merits in the time of Moses for dealing with a stiff-necked and cruel people, to-day it is an anachronism and a reproach to a civilisation founded on the more elevated plane of the teachings of Christ and the New Testament. Every argument advanced in favour of the retention of Capital Punishment is antagonistic to this teaching. It is asserted by those who favour the Death Penalty, that killing satisfies the personal desire for vengeance ; that it strikes terror into the minds of those who might contemplate the imitation of a bad example. That death is the only means of ensuring immunity from attacks on life and property ; that it is the readiest way of dealing with those whose actions threaten disturbance of the public peace ; that it is an expiatory sacrifice to an offended Deity and an element of the retributive action which passes under the name of justice. In reality it is a heritage from the Mosaic dispensation, the Institu- tions of the Wergild and the Lex Talionis. These ancient

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most