Well what do you know? Capital punishment DOES deter crime!
Oh man, this is going to hurt the anti-death penalty crowd.
…a series of academic studies over the last half-dozen years that claim to settle a once hotly debated argument — whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. The analysis say yes. They count between three and 18 lives that would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer…
…”Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it,” said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. “The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect.”
A 2003 study he co-authored, and a 2006 study that re-examined the data, found that each execution results in five fewer homicides, and commuting a death sentence means five more homicides. “The results are robust, they don’t really go away,” he said. “I oppose the death penalty. But my results show that the death penalty (deters) — what am I going to do, hide them?”
Statistical studies like his are among a dozen papers since 2001 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.
Of course, the other side of the coin is claiming the studies were done incorrectly, the data is bad, etc., etc. But, you knew they would.
Here’s my take - you intentionally kill someone, then you deserve to die. Someone dies while you and your buddy are robbing their liquor store, then you deserve to die. I don’t even care if it’s a deterrent or not. If you did either of the above, and the state proves you did it, then you deserve to die. Sure, go through the appeals process if you must, but let’s not drag it out. A couple of years stewing on death row should be plenty before you meet your maker.
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My take is that someone who murders will probably do it again. Removing them, at the very least, prevents those future crimes.
As for “Life”, several of those on Death Row in Illinois when Gov. Ryan let them all go were there for killing prison employees. They’ll do it again.
And, the case of Lemeul Smith in New York. Life for his original crime, then he caught a female corrections officer alone and raped and murdered her. Another life term…
Although, I suspect Mr. Smith’s lot in life and treatment by corrections officers is far less pleasant than he might wish.
I have no problem with the punishment fitting the crime - something we have lost sight of in this country.