Media Focus
Will the Televising of Executions Act as a Deterrent to Potential Offenders?
The death sentence is one of the more controversial aspects of law. Equally controversial is the way in which it is handled; in the U.S. It is behind closed doors, with only a few people, including the victims' families, able to witness the actual execution. For each execution there will usually be the applications of television channel to broadcast the event, but to date this has not been permitted by the U.S. courts. The execution which came the closest was that of Timothy McVeigh in June 2001, when there were arrangements for the use of closed circuit television to accommodate the large number of people from the victims' families who wished to witness McVeigh's death sentence being carried out. The question is whether or not this policy of carrying out executions in private is for the good of society; one may ask if the executions were to be televised would they have a greater potential to act as a deterrent?
When looking at the role of the law and punishment there is a duel purpose; it is to punish those who transgress social expectations and to prevent reoffending, but it is also to act as a deterrent. In a recent movie; 'The Purge', there is speculation over the way sociality would act if there were no laws, and no punishment. The result was a night of anarchy. While the speciation takes place in a fictional setting, it highlights the fact that there are some members of society which will not comply simply because it is right or expected; they may break the social conventions, which are used as the basis of law, if they believe it is in their personal interests. However, once there is a law in place, which may impose a cost, the individuals who may consider breaking the law will also have to consider the personal cost which may be extracted; creating the deterrent (Devlin, 1965). However, for that law to be a deterrent the individual must perceive the cost to be one that they will have to pay (Devlin, 1965).
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