Panormo, Execution of William Corder, at Bury, August 11, 1828 What messages do the examples in this case convey about the spectacle of execution? Thus, the crowd could either confer legitimacy on the execution (and by extension, the death penalty) or render it illegitimate. Crowds could challenge the conviction and execution and even try to free the prisoner by force. Some government representatives believed the working class was susceptible to brutality, leading to fears that the public might become desensitized to the violence of an execution rather than being edified by its intended moral lesson. As a last step, their skeletons might be reassembled and exhibited to physicians and the public.Äuring executions, rowdy crowds often made it difficult to maintain a solemn sense of occasion. Depending on the severity of prisoners’ crimes, after the execution their corpses might be left hanging on the gallows for up to a day, after which they might be displayed in the courthouse for public view before being dissected and studied by physicians and medical students. Prior to the execution, jailers paraded prisoners before an often-jeering crowd. Key components of the execution spectacle involved terrorizing and humiliating the condemned. A botched execution or a sympathetic defendant might change minds. Even some critics of capital punishment favored public executions, hoping lawmakers and the public would see the horror of the practice and be moved to abolish it. Pageantry and spectacle helped achieve these goals. Among various justifications offered by the government, executions were intended to exact retribution for the crime committed, enforce law and order, and deter future criminality by showcasing the harsh consequences of committing a crime. Organized by county sheriffs, public executions in England were spectacles attended by thousands. More than three thousand people were publicly executed by hanging in England between 18, after which time executions moved inside prison walls. After the 1830s, most executions involved murder. Prior to judicial reforms in the 1830s, over two hundred crimes were punishable by death in England, including: embezzlement, forgery, highway robbery, burglary, shoplifting, stealing or killing horses and livestock, arson, child abuse, and sodomy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |