That sentiment was reflected in a survey of about 1, 000 members of BBC Newsline's e-panel conducted for this week's special series on Crime and Punishment.

BBC: NI judges 'not out of touch'

And, frankly, I don't need lectures on crime and punishment.

CNN: Commentary: Don't confuse immigrant victims with villains

For rewriting the book on crime and punishment, for putting prices on values we didn't want to rank, for fighting past all reason a battle whose casualties will be counted for years to come, Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr are TIME's 1998 Men of the Year.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

Among the work he has published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals are a series of papers on crime and punishment, drug-gang finance, penalty kicks in soccer, money and elections, drunken driving, and the effect of ideology as opposed to voter preferences on the policies supported by politicians.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus

Since then, however, a wave of serious crime, including the rape and murder of a young girl, has reopened the debate on capital punishment.

ECONOMIST: New executioners for Sri Lanka: Hanging about | The