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ing che atrocwes of che Nazi era.
Since l966, Spain hasn't cxecured a
single criminal. Prior ro rhat time, che
Spanish aurhorirics used rhc firing
sguad or rhc garrote.
In France, che last time che guillo–
cine blade fell on che neck of a crimi–
nal was in t969, alrhough France srill
retains capital punishmenr in theory.
ln che wesrern hemisphere, Canada
and mosr of L1tin America have elim–
inared rhe dearh penalty for crimes.
In che United Srares, che Supreme
Court votcd 5-4 in a hisroric decis ion
ro srrike down che death penalry, rhus
lifring rhc threar of execurion from
598 meo and rwo women rhroughour
rhe nation, sorne of whom have spcnr
years in tiny cells just a fcw srcps
from che gas chambcr or rhe elccrric
chair. The dccision. howevcr, lefr rhe
furure of capital punishmcm in
limbo. The way was sccmingly lcfr
open for legislarors ro reinsrirure che
dearh penal()• for ccrrain spccified
crimes - such as :tssassinarion of a
president, rreason or murdcr of a
police officer - if rhe penalrr were
uniforml} applicd.
But why havc so many nations
abolishcd che deach penalty! Why
chis worldwide crend away from capi–
tal punishment?
Argumencs Againsc che
Deat h Penalty
Opponencs of che dcacb penalty
argue that ir is "cruel and unusual
punishmcnr." Many pcople considcr
capital punishmcnr roo brutal, roo
barbarous - and ccrribl)' final.
Does capital punishmenr consti–
ruce ··cruel and unusual punish–
menr''? In che lighr of conrcmporary
American srandards, and in view of
~he
facr rhac nor one American
prisoner ha::; bccn cxecured since ]une
2, l967. onc mi,ghc rcadily infcr rhac
opical punishment roda)• is
undoubtedl
y
''un usual."
One mighc also conclude thar ir is
ar tease psychologically "cruel"
bccause so many prisoners on death
row have had ro wair. for
)'ears
tn
(Text continmd on pttge 38)
36
Capital Punishment
Through History
S
INCE NA"fiONS
began ro exisc,
men have srrugglcd wirh che
guesrion of capital punishmenc. In
ancienr times, narions of the Middlc
Easr execured criminals by sroning,
hanging, crucifixion, or impalemcnr
on a srake - a parricularly corrurous
rype of execurion pracriced by che
Assyrians. Jesus, of course, died by
crucifixion - che bese known case
of injusrice recordcd in che annab
o(
hisrory.
In ancienr Babylon, rhose con–
demned ro dearh were ::;omerimcs
rhrown into a pie of voracious lions,
or into a fiery furnace On rwo occa–
sions. however, che penalty did noc
work out che way rhe aurhori ríes
had planned (see Dan.
3:21-26;
6:18-24).
In Egypt, banging was onc
of rhe popular merhods of imposing
dearh (Gen.
40:22).
In ancienr Romc, rradition says
rhar Christians wcre ofrcn thrown ro
che lions in che Colosseum.
In rhe Middlc Ages, in rhc namc
of religion, dissenrers werc ofrcn
burned at the srake. rorn apare on
rhe rack, or killed by che embrace of
rhe iron maiden.
The ingenuiry of man in dream–
ing up bizarre, cruel modcs of capi–
tal punishmenr has bc:en rcmarbble
indeed. In medieval rimes, rhc
doomed prisoner was somcrimcs
ried ro four horscs which wcrc
driven apare, wrenching che pris–
oner's body in rhe proccss.
Prior ro 1835, che penalt)' for
rreason in England was hanging,
followed by disemboweling. dccapi–
rarion, and guarrering thc body. In
1780 rhere were abour 350 crimes in
England which were punishable by
rhe dearh penalty. mosr of rhem
tri vial offcnses. Even children were
sometimes hanged.
In Francc, rhe infamous guillo–
tine was inaugurared in 1789. Heads
rolled for 180 years before "Madame
la Guillotine" was lasr used.
In rhe early Unired Srarcs, capital
punishmenr was used in che colony
of Pennsylvania for firsr degree mur–
der. In che wesrern and sourhern
pares of rhe counrry, capital punish–
ment was, often as nor. imposed b)
a lynching mob. The ·'hangman"
was an important member of che
communit} in rhe ..Wild Wesr."
Two refinements ro rhe dearh
pcnalry were added by American
ingcnuiry and cleverness: Thc clcc–
tric chair was firsr used on Augusr 6,
l890 ro execute William Kemmler,
who was horribly burned as a result.
In 1937, rhe gas chamber replaced
che hangman's noose in California
and rapidly became rhe favorite
means of execurion.
During World War II, Hitlerite
Gcnnany imposed a massive "dearh
penalty'' upon Jews, Gypsies, Ukra–
nians, Polcs, ere. Sorne werc
machine-gunned, orhers were
hanged; bur incredible numbers losr
rheir lives in gas chambers, disguised
as delousing showers, and were larer
case inro cremaroriums and burned
ro ashes. An estimated
6,000,000
Jcws losr thcir lives in Hitler's
infamous concentrarion camps. Such
names as Dachau, Buchenwald and
Auschwirz have become synonymous
PLAIN TRUTH November 1972