Is The Death Penalty a Crime Deterrent?
At the time of this writing it looks as if Governor Pat Quinn is poised to eliminate the death penalty in Illinois, joining New Jersey, New Mexico and New York in abolishing capital punishment in recent years.
Currently 15 states and the District of Columbia have no death penalty.
The state of Illinois has not executed a prisoner since 1999 when former Governor George Ryan imposed a moratorium on capital punishment.
This was done after it was determined that a number of people on death row were innocent.
The death sentences of 13 men were overturned.
This action will inevitably fuel the ongoing national debate over capital punishment.
Modern methods of DNA testing have led to a great number of death row exonerations throughout the U.
S.
and are causing many proponents of the death penalty to reconsider their views.
The Innocence Project, an organization opposed to capital punishment, has stated that there have been 266 post-conviction exonerations in the U.
S.
The U.
S.
Supreme Court decided just this week in favor of a condemned Texas man to seek testing of DNA evidence not used at his trail.
The all important question in every such conviction is, "Is this person guilty?" These after trial exonerations have led to a reassessment of this question.
If we exclude vengeance as a reason for executions, as almost all legislators will do, this leaves the question does capital punishment provide a deterrent to crime as the only other argument for allowing the death penalty.
Reliable statistics are difficult to find on this question.
All of the studies from academicians I have been able to review have viable dissenting arguments.
A reasonable approach to this question is to look strictly at crime statistics verses executions.
Polls taken by active duty police officers can also be revealing, since these are the people directly involved in this arena on a day to day basis.
A study by Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center concerning law enforcement views on this issue is very informative.
Police Chiefs across the U.
S.
were asked what how they would rate methods of reducing violent crime.
Their response is as follows listed from most important to least:
Their response was:
These statistics were based on the FBI's "Crime in the United States" and are per 100,000 populations.
The murder rate for death penalty states or non-death penalty states was based on the total number of murders in the state divided by the total population (and then multiplied by 100,000).
The debate on capital punishment will be pushed to the forefront as exonerations of death row inmates continue.
Making legislative decisions based on analysis of crime statistics and not allowing personal emotions and prejudices to interfere with these decisions is a difficult task, and one that our elected officials and Supreme Court justices are constantly striving for.
Currently 15 states and the District of Columbia have no death penalty.
The state of Illinois has not executed a prisoner since 1999 when former Governor George Ryan imposed a moratorium on capital punishment.
This was done after it was determined that a number of people on death row were innocent.
The death sentences of 13 men were overturned.
This action will inevitably fuel the ongoing national debate over capital punishment.
Modern methods of DNA testing have led to a great number of death row exonerations throughout the U.
S.
and are causing many proponents of the death penalty to reconsider their views.
The Innocence Project, an organization opposed to capital punishment, has stated that there have been 266 post-conviction exonerations in the U.
S.
The U.
S.
Supreme Court decided just this week in favor of a condemned Texas man to seek testing of DNA evidence not used at his trail.
The all important question in every such conviction is, "Is this person guilty?" These after trial exonerations have led to a reassessment of this question.
If we exclude vengeance as a reason for executions, as almost all legislators will do, this leaves the question does capital punishment provide a deterrent to crime as the only other argument for allowing the death penalty.
Reliable statistics are difficult to find on this question.
All of the studies from academicians I have been able to review have viable dissenting arguments.
A reasonable approach to this question is to look strictly at crime statistics verses executions.
Polls taken by active duty police officers can also be revealing, since these are the people directly involved in this arena on a day to day basis.
A study by Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center concerning law enforcement views on this issue is very informative.
Police Chiefs across the U.
S.
were asked what how they would rate methods of reducing violent crime.
Their response is as follows listed from most important to least:
- Reducing drug abuse
- Lower unemployment rates and better economy
- Simplifying court rules
- Longer prison sentencing
- More police officers on the street
- Reducing the number of guns
- Expanded use of the capital punishment
Their response was:
- Community policing
- More police training and equipment
- Neighborhood watch programs
- Longer prison sentences
- Increased drug and alcohol programs
- Anti-gang efforts
- Increasing capital punishment sentencing
These statistics were based on the FBI's "Crime in the United States" and are per 100,000 populations.
The murder rate for death penalty states or non-death penalty states was based on the total number of murders in the state divided by the total population (and then multiplied by 100,000).
The debate on capital punishment will be pushed to the forefront as exonerations of death row inmates continue.
Making legislative decisions based on analysis of crime statistics and not allowing personal emotions and prejudices to interfere with these decisions is a difficult task, and one that our elected officials and Supreme Court justices are constantly striving for.
Source...