Report of the Committee on the Abolishment of Capital Punishments

[Providence, Rhode Island., General Assembly, Committee on Abolishment of Capital Punishments], 1838. Folio broadsheet (13 inches x 7.75 inches), 2 pp.

Couple of short tears in the upper margin, lightly stained, otherwise very good.

"To the Honorable the General Assembly: January session, AD 1838 The subscribers, two of the Committee appointed to revise the Penal Code, Respectfully Represent, That it will appear by the Report of said Committee, which accompanies the bill presented by them, that they were divided equally on the abolition of capital punishments, and that it was agreed to report a bill that should not provide for their infliction in any case, that the point might be brought directly before the Legislature Hence, the subscribers, in this separate report, propose to lay before the Assembly some of the reasons why they think such punishments ought to be abolished in this State. "Among the reason these dissenters offer for opposition is the reluctance of many persons who will not complain or prosecute for a crime punishable with death."

Rhode Island prohibited capital punishment in 1852, one of the first states to do so. OCLC finds 8 copies as of 10/17/2018.