ABSTRACT
Dangers Incidental to Excessive Pain THE moment punishment becomes excessive it leads to an extension of crime rather than to its suppression. It does this in two ways. In the first place the fear of a dreadful form of punishment often leads to the commission of the crime that was clearly unpremeditated or to the commission of a series of crimes in order to escape the consequences of one crime. For instance, this danger inevitably crops up in connexion with any crime for which the penalty is capital punishment. The old saying" as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb" is a true one. Many a murderer has committed a second and even a third murder in order to silence someone who accidentally witnessed the initial crime or who .had discovered the identity of the criminal. In cases of rape and other sexual offences, the culprit, realizing the dreadful nature of the punishment with which he is threatened, co.mmits murder in order to silence the only witness of his cnme.
