The Pros and Cons of Death Row

Tim, you really don’t get it, do you? Neither deterrence nor guilt nor innocence is the point. The purpose of the death penalty is symbolic . It is a blood sacrifice, not to punish the guilty, but to avenge the communal sense of impropriety.

It acts as a deterrent not to similar crimes, but to the necessity for any hard, serious thought about how to deal seriously with the real problems of crime and social injustice.

NORMAN F. HALL

San Diego