Executive Juris Doctor
Shakespeare once said that nothing became a particular man in his life, except the leaving of it. Three hundred years ago, the public flocked to watch the entertainment of executions. Broadsheets of last words or narrative songs were best-sellers; souvenirs. So, artistic use of executions and executioners has been around for a long time.
Modern executioners’ hoods are for sale, for people who want to imagine or play games. Execution is the corollary of discussion over the merits or otherwise of the death penalty. How is it done? Public or private? Descriptions like ‘state-sanctioned murder’, ‘system sponsored killing’, or ‘offing-the inconvenient’ convey strong feelings.
Public desire for revenge, for punishment that fits the crime is extremely powerful. When ePetitions were launched by the UK Parliament in August 2011, it’s telling that among the popular front runners, gathering many votes, was a demand for the return of capital punishment.