Letter of the Day | Hanging is not the solution
Published:Thursday | December 16, 2021 | 12:07 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Whenever egregious crimes are committed in Jamaica, the usually predictable knee-jerk response from its citizens is the request for the reintroduction of hanging. The reason is simple. Many see it as a panacea that can resolve the problem and remove the scourge from among them, thinking that this would bring some semblance of normality in the society.
Further, disingenuous politicians have facilitated this misconception. They have conveniently omitted one key hindrance for that prospect to see the light of day, which is that there will never be hanging in Jamaica unless the law that bounds the Jamaican government is changed; the Pratt and Morgan’s case ensured that.
But even if hanging were to be reinstated, is there any guarantee that murders and other serious crimes would be reduced? I think not. There is no conclusive evidence that substantiates this. Neither will it serve as a deterrent to criminals – empirical evidence supports this. Further, there might be a school of thought that compares colonial years to advance the point that it had an impact then. This is flawed thinking, as it does not consider that the cultural dynamics have changed. Criminals no longer fear the police; instead, they engaged them.
Indeed, there is no silver bullet to solving Jamaica’s crime problem, as many who push the hanging narrative would want others to believe. Neither does it need a comprehensive crime policy to solve it. What is required is the strengthening of the existing institutions and getting rid of corruption within many of them.
Additionally, stiffer and lengthier sentences are needed to ensure that hardened criminals are not released on the streets. Every effort should be made to improve the prison system; address the socio-economic conditions, particularly for marginalised youths; and have reasonable remuneration for the police to reduce the possibility of corruption. If the Jamaican Government can act on these deliverables, we should see some results. But do they have the political will to do it?
ERROL MCLEISH