16 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty and Capital Punishment

In mid-nineteenth century Victoria, the main question around the death penalty was not its morality, but whether executions should be carried out in public. Crowds once gathered in their thousands, as they did in 1842 when three bushrangers were executed at the site of the new Melbourne Gaol. The carnival-like atmosphere led many to question the value of public hangings, and the debate continued long after they stopped. Attitudes shifted again during the depression of the 1890s, when a sharp ris