Anarchism and capital punishment

As anarchism, as an ideology, stands against the concept of the state and arms-backed governance, capital punishment by the state is seen within anarchist theory as a form of premeditated revenge murder.

The use of capital punishment

According to most state governments, capital punishment is used against the committers of what are defined in the particular society as the most heinous crimes; in societies which retain capital punishment, murder is probably the most common crime that could be classified as a capital crime, or a crime that is worthy of capital punishment.

The intended or "official" effect of a capital punishment is fourfold:

• It would "right" the wrong committed by the sentenced individual.
• It would bring some "closure" to victim(s) of the crime committed by the sentenced individual
• It would be the ultimate defense or protection of the victim by the state from the convicted criminal who aggressed once against the victim and, according to the state, could do the same again against the victim(s) or someone else if the convicted were not executed or were set free.
• It would serve as a notice to other would-be criminals in order to perturb them from committing similar crimes that would warrant a similar reaction.

Anarchist views on capital punishment

Emma Goldman viewed capital punishment as a murderous state action that fails to result in any permanent or lasting reduction of murderous or heinous crime.

• Anarchism and Capital Punishment excerpted from the book Individual Liberty: Selections From the Writings of Benjamin R. Tucker
• [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/goldman/Writings/Anarchism/anarchism.html