Bedau Decries Theory Behind Death Penalty

Charging that capital punishment does not deter criminals and that the "eye-for-an-eye" theory of justice is outdated, Hugo A. Bedau, Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, said last night that "there are no crimes that are suitably punished with the death penalty."

Speaking before a quiet Cambridge Forum crowd of about 50, Zedau said, "Either you believe that the law should pay a murderer back in kind, or you believe criminals should be killed as a deterrent to others. That's the only way I see justifying capital punishment, and I have real problems with these arguments."

On the theory of retributive justice, Bedau said it is difficult to rationalize giving the death penalty to rapists, traitors, and burglars, but that "this has actually happened in the last 50 years."

For the murderer, Bedau said the death penalty is equally unsuitable, adding, "Nine out of ten convicted murderers are never sentenced to death and it is virtually impossible to extend the death penalty to all those who supposedly deserve it."

Admitting that the alternative to execution is to keep criminals behind bars for life, Bedau said that even in the worst American environments--the modern maximum security prison--"human spirit isn't crushed, it can be developed. Parole is a viable possibility."

On the subject of deterrence, Bedau said that the evidence does not support the view that capital punishment reduces crime. To make the deterrent system work effectively, Bedau added, "You would have to throw out the Bill of Rights and turn back the clocks several hundred years--to the times when lynchings were popular."

Author of the soon to be released revised edition of "The Death Penalty in America," Bedau said, "We have approximately 900 criminals awaiting execution of their death sentences in the United States today. Only if we were to have three executions a day, every day for a solid year would that number be reduced to zero."