Pin It

mailmanRe: Friday, August 26, 2011 00:00 | by Ted Laux: http://www.lansingstar.com/opinions/7599-letters-death-penalty#ixzz1WSz6IvUs

Of the 27 studies finding for US death penalty deterrence since 2000, very few of them have been criticized and those that have allegedly been refuted have, instead, often been fully defended for their findings of deterrence.

It should surprise few that the death penalty is a deterrent. All prospects of a negative outcome deter some. There is no exception.



Mr. Laux would have us believe, using the same methodology of study, that executions actually cause more murders. Strange, he would accept that total bit of nonsense, that the more dangerous a potential outcome, the more people are likely to seek greater harm to themselves. Absurd, of course.

Mr. Laux, one does not measure death penalty deterrence by murder rates, any more than one would say no one is deterred by criminal sanctions, when looking at areas with high crime rates. Of course, some are deterred, whether there are high or low crime rates, just as with the death penalty (1).

88% of the criminologists do not say the death penalty is not a deterrent. You need to read the study.

Within the survey, the response to question 12 finds that 100% (or 77) of the criminologists agree that the death penalty may deter some (2).

To finish Mr. Laux's trifecta, the 138 "innocent" released from death row, since 1973, is an absurd fraud, which has been uncovered by many and for quite some period of time. The real number, depending upon review is 25-40, with no innocents being executed (3).

The reality is that innocents are far more at risk without the death penalty (4).


1) "Death Penalty, Deterrence & Murder Rates: Let's be clear"
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2009/03/death-penalty-deterrence-murder-rates.html

2) "Deterrence and the Death Penalty: A Reply to Radelet and Lacock"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/07/02/deterrence-and-the-death-penalty-a-reply-to-radelet-and-lacock.aspx

3) "The 130 (now 139) death row 'innocents' scam"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/03/04/fact-checking-issues-on-innocence-and-the-death-penalty.aspx

4) "The Death Penalty: More Protection for Innocents"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/07/05/the-death-penalty-more-protection-for-innocents.aspx

 

Dudley Sharp,
Houston, Texas

v7i34

Pin It