Abstract

The Tenacity of the Gallows

This article presents a brief information on two books. "Reflections on Hanging," by Arthur Koestler and "Not Guilty," by Jerome Frank and Barbara Frank. Koestler argues that capital punishment would be wiped clean from the statutes of the civilized community. He makes mince meat of the argument that the shadow of the hangman is all that protects society from a holocaust of private slaughter. Nevertheless, executions continue from inertia and the majesty of precedent, supported by the "reasonable" man's belief that when one life is forfeited for another, the equation balances. The book by Jerome and Barbara Frank makes another point that errors in criminal cases are usually discovered only by the sleuthing of those determined to free a prisoner they believe innocent. Errors are therefore not often found when the sentence has been death.