Ernest van den Haag identifies three justifications for punishing criminals: deterrence, retribution, and incapacitation. A possible fourth—reforming the criminal’s character—he dismisses as unachievable. It is in any event hardly relevant to the death penalty unless “reform” is used in a highly metaphorical sense. Of these justifications two are invariably employed in the debate over capital punishment: deterrence and retribution.
The general impression is that opponents of capital punishment reject both justifications. That is not so.
Comments