1977, March, Pg. 465. From the Wool-Sack.

• Author: by Christopher R. Brauchli

6 Colo.Law. 465

Colorado Lawyer

1977.

1977, March, Pg. 465.

From the Wool-Sack

465Vol. 6, No. 3, Pg. 465From the Wool-Sackby Christopher R. BrauchliMy object all sublime I shall achieve in time-To make the punishment fit the crime.Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado

1976 will long be remembered in legal circles because of two events. The first was passage of the 1976 Tax Reform Act which has been discussed in these columns in the past and the second was the Supreme Court's finding that the death penalty is not per se, unconstitutional.(fn1) The two are quite different. However, since I have attempted in this column to give you insight into the Tax Reform Act, it seems only appropriate that I give you similar insight into the death penalty.

The question lawyers are frequently asked about the death penalty, more especially as a result of the antics of Gary Gilmore, formerly of Salt Lake City, is what is the purpose of the death penalty? The answer is very simple. It is a deterrent to the commission of crimes. The naive questioner will immediately ask how the death penalty can be a deterrent to the commission of crimes since it is never carried out until its beneficiary has already committed a crime; whereas to be a truly effective deterrent, it should be imposed prior to commission of a crime. The answer to this is that there are two classes of people whom the death penalty seeks to deter from criminal activity. The first class is the criminal who has already committed a crime. Although executing a criminal after he has committed a crime is not a deterrent to the commission of past crimes, it is a deterrent to the commission of future crimes by that criminal. The other class of individual deterred by the death penalty is he who, contemplating commission of a crime, learns of the execution of someone who has committed a crime similar to that being contemplated by him and thereupon changes his mind with respect to his future conduct.

Having thus satisfied your listener as to the reasons for the death penalty, the next question you will be asked is whether society's only concern is in insuring that the criminal is dead or whether it also takes pleasure in the execution. Your first reaction to this question may be anger since the questioner seems to be suggesting that our society views the act of execution as something other...