result #115533 - WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ABOUT STUDIES THAT SHOW THE DEATH PENALTY DETERS CRIME?

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advice : WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ABOUT STUDIES THAT SHOW THE DEATH PENALTY DETERS CRIME?

[+] serious ballot by jappy
ACTIVE Jun 10,2007 - Fri Mar 05, 10

More than a dozen statistical studies since 2001 have shown that capital punishment has deterrent effects. They all explore the same basic theory — if the cost of something (be it the purchase of an apple or the act of killing someone) becomes too high, people will change their behavior (forego apples or shy from murder).

To explore the question, they look at executions and homicides, by year and by state or county, trying to tease out the impact of the death penalty on homicides by accounting for other factors, such as unemployment data and per capita income, the probabilities of arrest and conviction, and more.

Among the conclusions:

• Each execution deters an average of 18 murders, according to a 2003 nationwide study by professors at Emory University. (Other studies have estimated the deterred murders per execution at three, five and 14).

• The Illinois moratorium on executions in 2000 led to 150 additional homicides over four years following, according to a 2006 study by professors at the University of Houston.

• Speeding up executions would strengthen the deterrent effect. For every 2.75 years cut from time spent on death row, one murder would be prevented, according to a 2004 study by an Emory University professor.

What are your thoughts on the idea that the death penalty does in fact deter crime?

It is no surprise that the death penalty deters crime.	6
torture the statistics enough and they will confess...to anything.	4
That's a bunch of bullshit.	3
I am surprised about this, as I believed it did not deter crime.	2
I believe more studies should be done.	2

Ballot #115533: has 17 total votes.
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COMMENTS:
How many innocent people have been executed in the name of "deterring murder" and the speeding up of executions? Is it right to possibly kill an innocent man on the basis of a study that says it deters murder?

The item regarding Illinois seems to make a rather tenuous and dubious connection between murder, the death penalty and any deterrent effect.

by FiddleFaddleOnLSD on Sun Jun 10, 07 9:17pm [+]

Voted : I am surprised about this, as I believed it did not deter crime.
I've read that statistics were very inconsistent on this issue. Did that change recently? And if so, the next question would be why?

by skylab on Sun Jun 10, 07 10:30pm [+]

I dont believe death penality deters crime and there is no study that conclusive shows it does.
Besides, if i'm not much mistaken, these studies you quote have been dismissed as having many statistical problems with the data analyses reported. So i wouldnt take them too seriously.

by seamus on Mon Jun 11, 07 2:42am [+]

Civilized nations don't engage in the death penalty. It's as simple as that.

See the wonderful nations that also have the death penaly, in addition to the U.S.?

by cranky on Mon Jun 11, 07 7:02am [+]

Voted : torture the statistics enough and they will confess...to anything.
I doubt the validity of the "studies" you cite. Countless volumes of studies down through the years repudiate the idea that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder.

If murder were a rational act, then capital punishment might be a deterrent. However, murderers either kill in the heat of passion, or they don't think they are going to be caught. Either motivation is not affected by capital punishment.

Here's a stat for you: States that have no death penalty have a much lower rate of murder than states who do.

And let's not forget that in England, who punished pickpockets with death, other pickpockets would work the crowd watching the hanging of a pickpocket.

Capital punishment is revenge, pure and simple. I don't have any problem admitting that, and I don't need the solace of imagining it deters anyone from committing future murders.

by margaret123 on Mon Jun 11, 07 8:05am [+]

Voted : torture the statistics enough and they will confess...to anything.
Fro the death penalty to deter, a would-be killer would have to think: "There's no death penalty, so I'll murder someone, since I don't mind life without parole."
That's idiotic.
Certainty of punishment deters, not death vs. prison.

by The_Dude on Thu Jun 21, 07 10:31am [+]

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