Capital Punishment and The Pennsylvania Prison Society

• Published date: 01 April 1973
• Date: 01 April 1973
• DOI: 10.1177/003288557305300107
• Subject Matter: Articles

72

Capital

Punishment

and

The

Pennsylvania

Prison

Society

By

Rendell

A.

Davis

The

debate

on

capital

punishment

is

not

a

ncw

one.

William

Penn,

Dr.

Benjamin

Rush,

and

William

Br-1dl’rd

all

spoke

and

wrotc

in

opposition

to

the

death

penalty

during

the

eighteen

ccntury.

In

1796,

in

Stephen’s

Philadelphia

Directory,

Thc

Pennsyl-

vania

Prison

Society

(then

known

as

The

Society

tor

Alleviating

the

Miseries

of

Public

Prisons),

commenting

on

an

anlclldlncllt

to

the

penal

code

of

the

Commonwealth,

stated

that:

&dquo;The

punishment

of

death

ought

never

to

be

inflicted

when

it

is

not

absolutely

necessary;

there-

fore

that

punishment

is

abolished

in

all

cases

except

for

murder

of

the

first

degree.&dquo;

The

Society

went

on

to

speak

of

the

inconsistencies

of

punishmcnt

in

the

past,

&dquo;...a

petty

scoundrel

is

often

condemned

to

the

gallows

for

a

theft,

a

forgery

of

a

few

pounds,

where-

as

a

more

cunning

rascal,

after

a

few

months,

or

perhaps

weeks

confinement,

is

set

at

liberty

with

vast

property

which

he

has

swindled

from

thousands,

and

again

commences

his

devastations

on

society.&dquo;

_

Finally,

they

concluded,

&dquo;In

Pennsylvania

things

of

this

sort

can

no

longer

happen;

life

can

only

be

forfeited

for

life;

and it is

probable

that

the

time

is

not

far

distant,

whcn

naankind

becoming

more

humanc,

tvill

even

Ù¡

i

this

case

not

dare

to

deprive

a

fellow

creature

of

that

God

alone

catt

give&dquo;.

(Italics

mine.)

’

Presentation

by

Rendell

A,

Davis,

Executive

Director.

Pennsylvania

Prison

Society,

to

’I’he

Governor’s

Study

Commissiun

on

Capital

pzmishmcnt-

Philadelphia,

Pa., June

29,

1973