Does Capital Punishment deter other criminals from commiting crime?

Question

P.S. It's a lot more convincing if you have statistics to back it up.

Answer 1

I would for me.... but that's not the point of Capital punishment.... Retribution and justice are the point. Any determent is just a plus. And one thing is absolutely sure.... the person upon which Capital Punishment is carried out *never* commits a crime again. It is the only punishment with a zero recidivism

Answer 2

Thank you for the opportunity to address this question. As a Christian, I am opposed to the death penalty. But my religious conviction aside, I would like to bring up a few points as to why it may not be an effective deterrent.

First off, crime is not one-dimensional. We all know there are degrees of murder. It seems obvious that murder which isn't premeditated would not be affected by state death penalty laws.
But also, those crimes that are the result of pre-meditated murder seem to historically be unaffected by death penalty laws.

The link below from Amnesty International states the following, "A September 2000 New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty." It's worth looking at.

Aside from the lack of proof which says it's a deterrent, and the evidence from the above link which shows the opposite, it isn't vey cost effective for our judicial system. Most courts have an automatic appeals process for all death penalty cases. These can easily exceed into the millions. To keep a prisoner alive in jail on avergae is 30-40 thousand a year.

Moreover, there is moutning evidence that a number of criminals on death row have been wrongly convicted. With the rise of DNA evidence, many inmates have been proven not guilty and let go. This in turn has lead to hefty lawsuits as well. This calls into question in such a serious way whether or not the judicial process in our country has been less than perfect. It makes you wonder how many people have been put to the electric chair who were actually innocent. Even if the figure was 50 or 100, a conservative estimate, it is still a travesty to think that the innocent were killed by state-sanctioned execution. The moral approach for all states is to stop it until the system can be evaluated and imrpoved.

Lastly, the United States is among half the countries in the world that has the death penatly. I believe most, if not all industrialized countries have banned it. So many countries have far less vilent crime than we do. Why? Some have argued that the death penalty does violate the Constitution since it qualifies as cruel or unusual punshment. Neither jail time, or threat of the death penalty seems to be a deterrent in this country. There has to be a better way to lessen crime.

Answer 3

I don't have statistics, but the fact that countries with the penalty are as bothered with crime as those that don't, it is safe to assume it has little deterrent effect.

What it could achieve, if the judicial process is optimized to limit post sentence procedures while preserving a sufficient guarantee of not executing innocents would be to save the community the cost of lifelong imprisonment.

Answer 4

I don't think so. Texas has constantly had more people on death row then any other state. They like to claim it deters more murders. But if this were true, it would be the highest death penalty state for a few years, then quickly become the last due to its deterring effect. But that never happens.

Answer 5

does putting them in a cozy cell watching Oprah on TV deter others from committing crimes? if the answer is no, then at least capital punishment will give justice to the victims of those heinous criminal.

Answer 6

The deterrent value of punishment is more closely linked to the swiftness and certainty of the punishment, not the severity.

You can experiment on your children with this. Sending them to stand in a corner for five minutes at the age of six is far more effective in deterring misbehavior than promising to beat them to a bloody pulp for it once they reach eighteen.

Try it for yourself, you'll see.

Answer 7

Sure does statistics ha ha a cop out have there trial in the morning an if found guilty hang them in the afternoon an then lets talk statistics your crime rate would drop 98 percent

Answer 8

The only way it deters others is if the punishment is carried out quickly, not 10-20 years after the fact.

Answer 9

Personally, I'd like to see the answer to this myself. To me, CP isn't anything more than legal murder. And what real punishment is there: "You committed a murder. As punishment, we're gonna put you out of your misery in the most visually entertaining way."

Answer 10

We only know the one executed won't be committing any. Where would those statistics come from.