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

22 Canadian J. Criminology 404 (1980)
Public Opinion Argument in the Death Penalty Debate

handle is hein.journals/cjccj22 and id is 410 raw text is: The Public Opinion Argument in the Death Penalty Debate C. H. S. JAYEWARDENE AND H. JAYEWARDENE DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA La thbse de l'opinion publique - que la politique gouvernementale doit cadrer avec l'opinion publique - est invoqu6e pour ramener sur le tapis la question de l'i-propos de la peine de mort au Canada. Les 6lections fed6rales de 1979 o6 le parti liberal qui 6tait au pouvoir a 6t6 d6fait par les conservateurs semble indiquer que le public a exprim6 son m6contentement au sujet de l'abolition de la peine capitale, vu surtout que les membres du parti liberal ont toujours t6 consider6s comme favorables i son abolition alors que les conservateurs sont consid6r6s comme favorables h son maintien. Cependant, l'examen du sort des divers candidats aux elections montre que la faqon dont ils ont vote lors du d6bat sur l'abolition de la peine de mort n'a pas influ6 sur leurs chances d'&tre r66lus. L'examen de la disjonction entre la politique gouvernementale et [opinion publique en ce qui concerne la r66lection dans d'autres pays porte h croire que le fait de ne pas se soucier de l'opinion publique h l'6gard de n'importe quelle question joue un r6le tr&s n6gligeable. In 1976, when the Government of Canada attempted to abolish the penalty of death, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, bent on ensuring that the penalty would be retained, urged members of parliament to exercise their free vote not according to their consciences but according to the desires of the people they represent. In a democratic country, they contended, the will of the people should prevail .13 Prior to this, the Canadian police have lobbied for the retention of the penalty but then the argument had been different. In earlier times, the main argument proferred by them was the increase in the risk a policeman would be called upon to run in the performance of his duty, in deference to which the death penalty was retained for the killing of policemen and prison guards when a moratorium on it was declared in 1967. 13 Studies conducted to test this hypothesis both before and after 1967, both in Canada and in other countries have shown that this police contention is without empirical support. 13 Public opinion polls, on the other hand, have indicated, since 1943 when they were apparently first taken, that a greater proportion of the public desire the penalty to be retained rather than demand the penalty to be abolished. The support, of course, has varied between a 4:1 ratio in 1943 and a 1.2:1 ratio in 1960. Nevertheless, the public has always been in favour of retention. The police contention that M.P.s should vote according to public opinion, thus, demands that they vote for 404

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.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most