ABSTRACT
The enemies of capital punishment—and liberals generally—seem to be satisfied with any legal outcome so long as they themselves avoid the vicarious guilt of shedding blood. The agony of a trial itself is punishment, and acquittal wipes out nothing. Whereas the objection to capital punishment feels that death is the greatest of evils, the author feels that imprisonment is worse than death. The four main arguments advanced against the death penalty. These include punishment for crime is a primitive idea rooted in revenge, and capital punishment does not deter. These also include judicial error being possible, taking life is an appalling risk, and a civilized state, to deserve its name, must uphold, not violate, the sanctity of human life. The propaganda for abolition speaks in hushed tones of the sanctity of human life, as if the mere statement of it as an absolute should silence all opponents who have any moral sense.
