Public Perceptions of Homicide and Criminal Justice

This article offers an account of a recent quantitative survey1 of public opinion on homicide and the criminal justice system. The survey set out to test the assumptions made in substantive criminal law that the public recognize variation in moral culpability between homicides and that these variations should be reflected in separate offences carrying separate sentencing provisions. If this fundamental assumption is well founded, the survey further sought to determine what factors appear to influence the public's assessment of gravity in homicides, how the law should categorize homicides, and what justifications and excuses should be recognized. Finally, it set out to test public opinion as to the appropriate penalties for the most serious homicides.