ABSTRACT
In 1941 New Zealand became one of the few nations in the world to abandon the death penalty for murder. Nine years later the measure was recalled, before being abolished again in 1961. This chapter looks at the factors underlying the original abolition of hanging for murder, its resurrection in 1950, and its final withdrawal eleven years later. Hanging had little effect on the nation's homicide figures. It did, however, impact heavily on the individuals charged with administering it and through them prison management as a whole. Nonetheless, waves of public emotionalism still, periodically, demand capital punishment's return.
