Criminologist Edwin Sutherland On The Death Penalty

The death penalty does not fit into the system that is being developed for the treatment of criminals, which is individualization on the basis of the character and personality of the offender rather than punishment on the basis of the crime committed. Some criminals, of course, cannot be reformed by known methods, but there are none whose reformation should not be attempted. The death penalty, as a compulsory penalty for any offense, is therefore an anachronism or rapidly becoming such. [What if serial killer Ted Bundy could be reformed, then what?]

Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950)