Does the death penalty discourage people from killing?

Question

Some people say that having the death penalty makes people scared to kill? What do you think?

Answer 1

well it depends...that may be true for premeditated killings,people who actually sit back and plan to murder someone they will also think about the ..what ifs....and when they think about themselves getting killed in return it may not seem such a good idea and that may deter them. but the other types of killings where people suddenly find themselfs in situations and acts out of pure rash anger or the need to prove themselves to others......thats the one which has no remedy because only after the act has been done and the rage or (demon)is gone and they suddenly find themself facing a murder charge,its only then the full consequences of their actions dawns on them. the only way we can stop the killings is for us as a people to start caring about each other and start respecting each other to a point where we value the lives of others as we value our own.

Answer 2

A lot of these answers are terrific. No reputable study has shown the death penalty to be a deterrent; states that have it show higher homicide rates than states that do not, murderers do not think they will be caught (if they think at all, which is doubtful for most of them).

Several additional points need to be made: The first is that systems with the death penalty cost far more than those without it. One example is that of New York State where, since it was enacted in 1995, the death penalty cost well over 200 million dollars to try, sentence and lock up 7 people on death row versus an estimated 35,000 per year to incarcerate someone. Trial costs, including pretrial investigations, accounting for the two stage requirements of trials in death penalty cases, costs of maintaining a separate death row account for most of this (the appeals process for the 7 men had barely started before New Yorks highest Court placed a de facto moratorium on the state's death penalty.)

Many people who favor speeding up the process (that is, denying due process) ignore the fact that over 120 people on death row have been exonerated. Without a doubt, many of these would have been killed by now.

Lastly, the sense that executions are to give victims family members "closure" is not universally accepted. Victims family members who have said that, in principal they might support the death penalty have also said that with each judicial proceeding, their wounds are reopened and the spotlight is on the killer, not their loved one. What they have asked for are better victims support services rather than putting their hopes for healing on hold until an execution takes place.

Answer 3

Statistics suggest that death penalty does not discourage people from killing. In the United States, states that do not have capital punishment have a lower murder rate than states that have it and the murder rate has gone up in some states after they started using the death penalty again.

Some people say the death penalty stops murderers from murdering again. I think it can have the exact opposite effect until the murderer gets caught. If you kill one person and expect to get the death penalty for it, you might feel like you have nothing to lose and go about killing several people until you get caught. I wonder if the death penalty doesn't encourage people to kill many if they're going to kill in the first place.

Answer 4

Certainly the death penalty does discourage people from killing and makes them afraid to carry out murders (with maybe the exception of sociopaths and similar troubled people), but I do not think it is any more effective than prison sentences - there is no evidence that the death penalty serves to better limit murders then the threat of life imprisonment.

I live in Australia where we do not have capital punishment and from what I have read and understand of the death penalty it is expensive, risky and no better a deterrent than prison sentences.

The source I have included is a report summary from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues in the United States – it concludes that the death penalty should be abolished.

Answer 5

I honestly don't think so. The court system is backed up and bogged down with cases, that who knows how long any case will take to get in front of a judge. Then, there's all the appeals they're entitled to, after, of course a very lengthy trial. So, no, I don't think the death penalty discourages anyone. I wish it did. Society as a whole, doesn't seem to be as concerned with potential consequences as we once were, the general public is simply too concerned with me, me, me, not what could happen.

Answer 6

absolutely not.
It has been proven all around the world .

There are more murders in countries where there is the death panalty,so if we were to look at it on the basis of deterence then it would actually encourage murder which of course would be silly.

So the only remaining argument is that the murderer does not consider the implications at the time of the crime.
I do not favour the death penalty on the basis that lives cannot be saved by its use.Therefore the only application would be for public vengeance.Well , we should be setting an example to backward countries and cultures and barbarism would mean loss of the moral highground.

Answer 7

No. Other Country's or U.S. States that still have the Death Penalty Prove that

Answer 8

No....there are a few countries in the world that still have the death penalty for murder, yet people still kill.

Answer 9

I think it would be a bigger deterrent if it was implemented more and faster. Allowing killers to sit on Death Row for years and years while they wear the court system out with appeal after appeal is ridiculous. However, I do believe it should only be used like that when there is irrefutable proof such as DNA or video tape. We should not trust circumstantial or eye witness accounts in most cases.

Answer 10

Probably not, since the people who do the kinds of crimes that result in the death penalty seem to be amoral sociopaths and therefore wouldn't be deterred. However, it gives closure to the victims' families...