评论
打印
What we accept, and what the abolitionist will clamp upon us all the more firmly if he succeeds, is an incoherence which is not remedied by the belief that second-degree murder merits a kind of second degree death; that a doubt as to the identity of a killer is resolved by commuting real death into intolerable life; and that our ignorance whether a maniac will strike again can be hedged against by measuring "good behavior" within the gates and then releasing the subject upon the public in the true spirit of experimentation.
现在人们所接受的、而废除派一旦得势必将更加坚决地强加于我们的是一堆逻辑上的纷乱，这种纷乱决不会因下述信念而得以消除：既然有二级谋杀，就应当有二级死罪;如果对凶手不能完全确定而存有疑问的话，只要将死刑减轻为难以忍受的活罪，存疑便解决了;倘若我们无法预料一个杀人狂是否会再度伤人，那也只需衡量一下他在监狱里的"良好表现"，然后以真正的实验主义精神将他释放出来。
There are some of thoughts I find I cannot escape when I read and reflect upon this grave subject. If, as I think, they are relevant to any discussion of change and reform, retain as they do on the direct and concrete perception of what happens, then the simple meliorists who expect to breathe a purer air by abolishing the death penalty are deceiving themselves and us. The issue is for the public to judge; but I for one shall not sleep easer for knowing that in England and American and the West generally a hundred more human beings are kept alive in degrading conditions to face a hopeless future; while others- possibly less conscious, certainly less controlled- benefit from a premature freedom dangerous alike to themselves and society. In short, I derive no comfort from the illusion that in giving up one manifest protection of the law-abiding, we who might well be in and of these three roles- victim, prisoner, licensed killer- have struck a blow for the sanctity of human life.
以上就是当我看到有关这个重大问题的讨论并对它进行思考时所感到的不可避免的想法。依我看来，如果这些想法同任何基于对客观存在的直接、具体的感受而进行的关于变革和改良的讨论不是毫不相干的话，那些认为废除了死刑世界就会变得纯洁的天真的社会改良主义者们就真是自欺欺人了。这个问题本应由社会全体来公断，但我作为社会的一分子，对目前的社会现实很感不安，因为我知道，在英国、美国乃至整个西方通常总有百数以上的人被迫在极其恶劣的条件下苟延残喘，所面对的只不过是一个毫无希望的未来;而另外一些人一～他们可能是头脑更糊涂，但无疑是更无力自控的人--则得到提前获释的便宜，这无论对社会还是对他们自己都只会带来危险。总而言之，我决不赞赏这样一种错误观念：只要取消一种对守法的良民显然起着保护作用的法律措施，我们这些要么成为受害者，要么成为囚徒或不受约束的杀人凶手的人就算是为维护人的生命的尊严贡献出了一份力量。
