That's the title of an OpEd by Eric Zahnd from the Kansas City Star. He is the Platte County prosecuting attorney. LINK
A recent editorial (5/14, A-14, “Death penalty system has serious flaws”) seeks a moratorium of the death penalty in favor of “a thorough study of the system.”
The editorial overlooks one important thing. Studies of the death penalty have already been conducted across the nation, and their verdict is clear: the death penalty is fairly administered; today’s defendants receive effective representation; and any errors during the investigation or trial are uncovered in the appellate process.
More importantly, a growing number of studies indicate something that should not be overlooked: the death penalty saves lives.
A dozen recent studies reveal that the death penalty has a significant deterrent effect. A leading study published in the American Law and Economics Review collected data from 3,054 counties over a 20-year period. Using sophisticated multiple regression analysis, the study concluded that, on average, each execution results in 18 fewer murders.
The results of these studies mean we are confronted by a stark decision with real consequences.
On the one hand, we can continue to carry out death sentences. In so doing, we will execute only those defendants who have been found guilty by unanimous juries that have taken the extra step to recommend a death sentence. The executions will occur only after the defendants have exhausted their rights of appeal and been afforded every possible due process right.
I'll simply point to the deterrence category index, and an excerpt from this post in particular.
Cass Sunstein and Justin Wolfers were quite clear in their OpEd,"The Murky Evidence for and Against Deterrence," that appeared in the June 30, 2008 issue of the Washington Post, and noted here.
Let me also link to the September 22, 2000 New York Times report, "States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates."
The dozen states that have chosen not to enact the death penalty since the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that it was constitutionally permissible have not had higher homicide rates than states with the death penalty, government statistics and a new survey by The New York Times show.
Indeed, 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average, Federal Bureau of Investigation data shows, while half the states with the death penalty have homicide rates above the national average. In a state-by- state analysis, The Times found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.
The study by The Times also found that homicide rates had risen and fallen along roughly symmetrical paths in the states with and without the death penalty, suggesting to many experts that the threat of the death penalty rarely deters criminals.
"It is difficult to make the case for any deterrent effect from these numbers," said Steven Messner, a criminologist at the State University of New York at Albany, who reviewed the analysis by The Times. "Whatever the factors are that affect change in homicide rates, they don't seem to operate differently based on the presence or absence of the death penalty in a state."
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