There are only two possible motives for believing that the death of a citizen is necessary. The first: when it is evident even if deprived of liberty he still has connections and power such as endanger the security of the nation-when, that is, his existence can produce a dangerous revolution in the established form of government. The death of a citizen thus becomes necessary when a nation is recovering or losing its Liberty or, in time of anarchy, when disorders themselves take the place of laws. But while the laws reign tranquilly, in a form of government enjoying the consent of the entire nation, well defended externally and internally by force, and by opinion, which is perhaps even more efficacious than force, where executive power is lodged with the true sovereign alone, where riches purchase and pleasures and not authority, I see no necessity for destroying a citizen, except if his death were the only real way of restraining others from committing crimes; this is the second motive for believing that the death penalty may be just and necessary.
Cesare Beccaria A.K.A Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria-Bonesana (March
15, 1738 – November 28, 1794) was an Italian jurist, philosopher and politician
best known for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned
torture and the death penalty, and was a founding work in the field of
penology.
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