TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: A Sensible and Compelling Substitute for Capital Punishment: Alternative Model; Salient Matters Arising in Nigeria and the USA
AUTHOR:
CHUKWUNọNSO OKAFọ, Ph.D., B.L., Professor of Law, University of Nigeria.
ABSTRACT:
This article examines the suitability of death as a form of criminal punishment and offers a credible substitute for this sanction. After reviewing the essential nature and character of capital punishment, particularly in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA), this article offers “Life in Prison with Hard Labor and No Release Before Natural Death” – LPHLNR – as a credible substitute for the death penalty. The ingredients and rationale for the preferred alternative model are given and explained. The LPHLNR model was the subject of a field test via a guest lecture given at a university in Virginia, USA, in February 2010. The positive responses and contributions by the audience have helped to sharpen the model. Overall, this paper makes a strong case that adopting the alternative model will do away with the several flaws in capital punishment, while properly responding to the most vicious criminals in society.