The Death Penalty Is Not Effective Deterrence

     One argument from death penalty supporters is that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to prevent other people from committing murders. It is the belief that people will think out the consequences of their actions before murdering, and consider the

The idea of capital punishment deterring crime is difficult to determine; some could rationalize that the death penalty should in theory stop potential murders from committing crimes. However, this rationalization has never been concretely proven. The research into capital punishment’s effect on deterrence is immense; however, the majority of research on this issue has differential findings. Although some research suggests conclusively that capital punishment deters crime, others found that it fails to do this. Understanding deterrence, the death penalty, and the results of

Many people who are supporters of the death penalty say that it’s a successful deterrent. But this isn’t true because the death penalty is administered very inconsistently and arbitrarily. “Only a small proportion of first-degree murders is sentenced to death, and even fewer are executed” (Bedau). There are also several states that have a lower criminal rate without using capital punishment. For example Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan all get along just fine without the use of the death penalty. Also “…all other Western industrial countries get along quite well without killing their citizens” (Ryan). There are many judges that are against the use of capital punishment as well.

All of the research that I have done suggests that the death penalty is not a major source of deterrence for criminals to commit severe crimes such as homicide. In a 2009 survey of America’s top criminologists, published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and written by Professor Michael Radelet, eighty-eight percent of the expert criminologists stated that they do not believe the death penalty acts as a deterrent for criminals to commit homicide. Respondents to this survey were asked to base their answers on research, rather

Those that are for the death penalty claim that it will serve as a deterrent and is the only way for retribution against murderers. Both issues are highly debatable and have even been a subject of criticism. Punishment as a deterrence has been used for ages. This concept does work, however it should not be applied to all criminals, in my opinion. Some pro capital punishment individuals claim that it is an efficient deterrence against criminals. In an article “Death penalty is a deterrence”, the authors claim that by practicing the death penalty, violent crimes will decrease.”violent crime has declined eleven percent, with murder showing the largest decline at even more than twenty two percent. We believe that this has occurred in part because of the strong signal that the death penalty sent to violent criminals and murders.” These statistics taken from this article may be inaccurate and should be closely examined.

Despite this on going argument, outlawing capital punishment in America could create many unhappy citizens, and cause a division in the U.S. government. By enforcing the death penalty prevention in crime could occur. If death is the punishment for murder then criminals are not gaining from their crimes, but receiving the punishment they have inflicted on others. The crime rate is lower in the states that do not invoke capital punishment, but as Walter Burns stated “the number of murders tend to rise with the crime rate in general - and not only in America,” (105). Capital punishment is maintained to hopefully show criminals that when they kill they will eventually meet the same fate. By enforcing the death penalty the government could be trying to scare criminals from their crimes, and in some cases it has worked. When the death penalty was restored in Kansas, for example, the homicide rate dropped considerably (Bedau 122). According to research done by Bedau the crime rate continued to sore between 1960-1969 when capital punishment was rarely being used in most states (Bedau 127).

Another fact is that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Reports have shown in 2008, the 14 states that did not have active capital punishment had surprisingly low homicide rates. They were actually at or below the national homicide rate. So, there is no documentation or proof that having capital punishment deters criminal acts of violence. In fact, in 2009, a survey showed that over 88% believed that the death penalty was not a deterrent for heinous criminal acts. Thomas Sowell, a columnist at the Hoover Institution couldn’t have made a deterrence case any better when he said “We know that the death penalty deters those who are executed. The fact this this is obvious does not make it any less important. It is certainly not less

The death penalty does not deter criminals from committing crime. Most criminals who commit crimes do not have intentions of being caught and believe that they are invincible from the repercussions of their actions. Because of this, the death penalty really does not deter criminals from committing a crime. In fact, the death penalty could be considered an “easy way out” because the criminal does not have to spend several months, years, or even the rest of his or her life behind bars with little contact with the outside world. The criminal can just die and no longer have to suffer with knowing what he or she did, how it has affected others, and how it will continue to affect his or her life. Also, many criminals end up committing suicide in prison because they do not want to have to spend every day locked in a jail cell for extended periods of time.

Almost a month ago, I accidently came across the Stanford Prison Experiment documentary, which is available to view on Youtube. The document based on real event in Stanford University. It is an experiment to study psychology of imprisonment on prisoners and guards by dividing selected Stanford students into two groups. As the time passed, the researchers have discovered some drastically changes in both groups within days. At the end, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, one of the researchers concluded that, “these students were physically and psychologically suffered, and nobody have right or privilege to do that to other people.” The document have raised many questions in my head. Does the death penalty

The argument is a popular among politicians and the public in response to the escalating fear of violence. They believe that with the death penalty gives a great strength to police officers because potential offenders fear capital punishment which de-escalates violence. Another factor many believe is that criminals will be more compliant to cooperate because they will try to get a lesser punishment which in turns makes the death penalty deter further crimes that could be committed. Many believe that since the death penalty deters crime, it is a great tool for law enforcement as a

On the other hand, the anti-death penalty arguments claim that the death penalty is oppressive toward lower class and people of color, wasting the limited resources, and it often hurt innocent people. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent because it is not applied consistently, as there is only a small fraction of first-degree murders who received death sentence, and even then they do not represent the worst cases of murders. Most of the time, whether or not one receives the death penalty depends on how much money they have, how good their attorney is, their ethnicity as well as the victims’ ethnicity. ACLU argued that people of color were more likely to receive capital

what people consider to be appropriate punishment. It seems to reek of hypocrisy that we punish people for killing - yet kill them as a measure of ‘justice’.

One reason the death penalty works is because it helps deter, or get rid of, crime. Most people think it does not help lower crime and that the state should just keep them in jail for life. In the article “Capital Punishment Works” David Muhlhausen stated that “Based on data from all 50 states from 1978 to 1997, Federal Communication Commission economist Paul Zimmerman demonstrated that each state execution deters an average of 14 murderers annually”. Therefore, for each execution it decreases the amount of murderers that could happen. In the article “10 reasons the death penalty..” by David Anderson stated that “Yet more research

The death penalty is not the most effective form of punishment for criminals. The death penalty is hypocritical; it condemns killing by killing people. Many supporters of capital punishment cite retribution as being a justification for the death penalty; however, no matter what the circumstance, murder is never justified. Ghandi once said “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Two wrongs can never make a right. Capital punishment should be abolished because while even though many supporters of the death penalty claim that it prevents crime, there is no evidence that it has been proven to do so. Also, many people support the death penalty because it prevents criminals from ever being allowed back on the streets to commit further crimes. The death penalty is a preferred method of punishment because it is permanent; however, it should be avoided because it is permanent. There is too much of a possibility that an innocent person could be executed for a crime that they did not commit. An execution cannot be undone. Studies have also shown that the death penalty is a biased method of punishment because disadvantaged people, such as minorities and people of lower social status are more likely to be executed. This is unfair because all people have the same rights and should receive equal and fair punishment for their crimes. An alternative punishment to the death penalty is life without parole; it is just as effective a way to prevent someone committing more crimes as

One of the primary arguments used for the death penalty is that is is a deterrent to crime. The belief is that harsh punishments will keep people from committing serious crimes. While this opinion was widely held some time ago in the united states more recently, people are starting to believe that using the penalty as a deterrent is not effective. In 1985 62% of