Daily Caller: What Did The Founding Fathers Think Of The Death Penalty?

[Stefanie Faucher]

http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/01/what-did-the-founding-fathers-think-of-the-death-penalty/

What Did The Founding Fathers Think Of The Death Penalty?
Daily Caller
4:52 PM 12/01/2014
By Marc Hyden, Advocacy Coordinator, CCATDP

Conservatives, such as myself, revere many of the framers and often
look to their statements and publications for guidance on present
policy issues, including capital punishment. The truth is many early
American leaders were ambivalent to the death penalty while others
were outspoken about its abolition.

The 18th century Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria heavily
influenced the views of many of America’s founders, according to John
Bessler, author of The Birth of American Law. Beccaria’s philosophy
helped mold our nation’s criminal justice system as it shifted away
from Britain’s “bloody code.”

Beccaria, like many early American leaders, opposed capital punishment
because he believed that the death penalty was neither useful nor
necessary. He concluded that it served no deterrent and wasn’t
imperative considering that alternative punishments could be
implemented to replace the death penalty. Any punishment that isn’t
absolutely necessary is a form of tyranny, according to Beccaria.

Early American leaders were enamored by Beccaria’s philosophy, and
many strictly adhered to it. President James Madison, the author of
the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights opposed the death penalty
and stated, “I should not regret a fair and full trial of the entire
abolition of capital punishments by any State willing to make it.”
Benjamin Franklin, who similarly wasn’t a fan of the death penalty,
said, “It is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one
innocent person should suffer.”

Founding father and Declaration of Independence signatory, Dr.
Benjamin Rush, who was also vocal in his opposition to capital
punishment, stated, “The Supreme Being alone possesses a power to take
away human life, and that we rebel against his laws whenever we
undertake to execute death in any way whatever upon any of his
creatures.” Marquis de Lafayette, a key figure in the American
revolution, also viewed capital punishment with disdain and exclaimed,
“I shall ask for the abolition of the Penalty of Death until I have
the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.”

George Washington was likely well-versed in Beccaria’s philosophies as
well, and, as a general, Washington even pleaded with congress to
limit capital crimes on multiple occasions. Even though Washington
begrudgingly signed death warrants in his day, he said, “We should not
introduce Capital executions too frequently.”

He was known for pardoning the guilty and granting clemency as a
general and even into his presidency. Thomas Jefferson, who was known
for frugality and limited government early in his political career,
drafted legislation to limit executions at the state level in
Virginia. He even remarked that the notion of “eye for an eye” was a
“revolting principle.”

The lack of viable alternatives to the death penalty in early American
history likely sparked some of the ambivalent support for capital
punishment from certain founders. State and federal prisons capable of
indefinitely housing inmates were practically nonexistent at the
founding of the United States. The very first American penitentiary
did not open until after the Constitution was ratified. Therefore,
some founders believed that capital punishment was necessary because
an infrastructure to support life-without-parole didn’t yet exist in
America. Today, state and federal prisons are ubiquitous and life
without the possibility of release is not only a viable option but
also a cheaper alternative.

Today’s death penalty is much different than the early American
capital punishment system, and we now know more about the risks that
it poses. Already more than 145 individuals have been wrongly
convicted, sentenced to death, and later released. Others have been
executed when serious doubts existed regarding their verdict. Our
death penalty is also incredibly costly. In fact, it costs more than
life-without-parole and has even led to tax increases. Meanwhile,
studies claim that there is no credible evidence to suggest that the
death penalty deters murder. Even murder victims’ family members are
speaking out against capital punishment because they find it to be
harmful due to the traumatizing nature of the lengthy trial and
appeals process. Simply put, we have an incredibly expensive system
that risks innocent lives, doesn’t deter murder, and fails murder
victims’ families.

Many of the framers, led by Beccaria’s philosophy, opposed the death
penalty, but how would our revolutionary predecessors view today’s
system of capital punishment? Presently, the death penalty has become
a bloated and complex system emblematic of a wasteful and error-prone
government. Similar to the taxation without representation that the
founders rejected, the death penalty has become increased taxation
without necessity or efficacy, which early American leaders would
likely repudiate. Our forefathers adhered to principles of protecting
innocent life, frugality in state spending, and limited government,
but the death penalty has become inconsistent with each principle.






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Stefanie Faucher
Communications Director
8th Amendment Project
sfau...@8thamendment.org
Mobile 510.393.4549
8thamendment.org