IS MURDER RATE INFLUENCED BY PENALTY LAW IMPOSES?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 34, 5 September 1949, Page 5

IS MURDER RATE INFLUENCED BY PENALTY LAW IMPOSES?

Social Progress And Capital Punishment Is the murder rate influenced by the penalty the law imposes for murder? Are there good reasons why we should reintroduce capital punishment? asks Mr G. A. Wilkes, Whakatane, who writes at length on the question of capital punishment. Round us spokesmen of one or two groups which claim to guide the public conscience are demanding that the death penalty be reintroduced, he says, and goes on to ask what is the

score on the whole question? Rome in all its grandeur had grim methods of execution. Vestal virgins who violated their vow of chastity, were buried alive, false witnesses were hurled from the Tarperan Rock. Later death penalties have been carried out by crucifixion burning, decapitation, dismembering, torture and throwing to wild beasts. Amongst all. early people we find harsh ideas of punishment and frightful means of execution freely used for a wide range of acts, many of which we would not today consider criminal. 200 Main Offences Until the eighteenth century the majority of serious crimes were punishable by death. As late as the first quarter of last century there were about two hundred capital offences under the British system of justice. To kill the law breaker was a very simple way of getting rid of criminals and the idea of reform was not considered. As the form of Government we call democracy was. becoming firmly established one effect was that more people, through the legisla-i ture, were beginning to have a say about the laws which they as citizens were to observe. We find more human ideas beginning to prevail. These ideas were in part the results of democratic forms of government and in part the results of the more liberal forms of philosophy which in themselves gave rise to the democratic idea. Thus we find the public conscience revolting against the death penalty for a great many crimes.

Deportation then became the standard form of punishment. The treatment of those deported to final settlements was such that from a point of view it was not a great humanitarian point of view it was not a great advance, because so many died of ill treatment, flogging and exposure, but it was the start of better ideas about punishment. Deportation had to stop because Australia wanted to be perfectly respectable, and then in England big prison settlements were established. Conditions in these prisons were incredibly harsh. A strong prison reform move.ment led by John Howard followed up by Elizabeth Fry managed to make the people stop and think. And all the Judges and Bishops (the latter nearly always harshest in their demand for stern punishment) who were convinced that reforms would open the flood gates to a terrific wave of crime,' found that humane methods decreased wrong doing. Causes Of Crime Towards the end of last century interest in the causes of crime was aroused and since then research workers have carried out exhaustive tests in a number of countries. All results supported the conclusion that nobody is born a criminal, but some people are born with a disposition which makes it difficult for them to adjust themselves to society and may lead them into crime. Hence upbringing, education and environment are important. Faulty upbringing by cruel and unjust parents, or by weak and overindulgent parents has produced many criminals. Criminology requires the closest co-operation between the sociologist and the psychologist. No solution can be successful which disregards either of these approaches. Investigation has revealed that most criminals are of a somewhat .inferior mental type. This does not mean that people of inferior mental type are born criminals. Often we find hardened criminals come from what appears to be a first class environmental background. Shop lifters are frequently women from good homes. Poverty is a factor contributing towards crime, largely because it produces an atmosphere in which anti-social tendencies might easily develop. An “Easy Money” age can produce the same effect. Sooner or later we must realise that by improving social environment we can do a lot to mitigate the problem. That is why the problem concerns not just the police and the judges but ordinary citizens as well. The primitive idea of punishment was and still is to some people the 200 year old Lex Talionis system .as expressed in Dentironomy XIX

21. “There eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Retaliation Increases It has been found, however, that punishment which was based on retaliation, instead of checking crime, increased it. Brutal punishment. In the last war Germany which tended to produce a brutalising effect not only on the criminal but on society. Statistical research showed that crime was little affected by the severity of the punishment.! In the last war Germany executed black marketeers. Other countries did not. Yet Germany [had a strong black market..

The late’ Sir John Salmond in a work still used as a standard text book sets out the ends of criminal justice as four in number (1) deterrent, (2) preventive, (3) reformative and (4) retributive. Opinion today, a quarter of a century later, agrees that some compromise between deterrence and reform is necessary, but lays emphasis on reform.

The' case for the reintroducti'on of the death penalty is put forward on two grounds. Firstly that the fear of hanging would prevent murderers, you eliminate undesirables. A critical examination, is imporflh ant on an issue like this a lot of emotional feeling, as opposed to clear thinking is aroused. We find that thirty Governments, which includes our own, have abolished capital punishment without any bad effect on. fhe number of murders.

New Zealand Position Let us examine the New Zealand position. The last hanging in New Zealand was in 1936. For the five years before that the number of murders in each of the years were 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 Total 13 25 14 20 17 89

In the next five years without any executions the figures were as follows:

1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 Total 8 12 5 7 15 47 This shows that after hanging was abolished the murder rate decreased shortly. This strange fact is paralelled in most other countries. It is true that in New Zealand the murder rate has risen sharply in the post war years, but this is true also of other countries whether they impose the death penalty or not. Research shows that crimes of violence increased after a great war. Let us take Britain where the death penalty still operates. The murder rate rose from 97 murders in 1938 to 138 in 1946. Taking the seven year period 1939/1945 there were 474 persons tried for murder. Of these 84 were found insane on arraignment, and 114 found guilty but insane by the jury. The number convicted of murder was 174, 14 of them being persons under 18 years of age. Of the 160 sentenced to death 11 had their sentences squashed by the Court of Appeal and 11 after medical in> quiries were certified insane. The number of persons liable to execution was thus reduced to 138. Of these 82 were hanged and 56 reprieved.

Creates Morbid Excitement An execution creates morbid excitement among some sections of the people and adds an unhealthy touch of melodrama to sordid crime.

Society may have progressed beyond the necessity of eliminating undesirables. While there is a possibility of - reform we should attempt it. If we are to set the clock back let us not do so until we have availed ourselves of the opportunity to study much more of the scientific data assembled by the Howard League and other really interested organisations.