Death Penalty and Issues of Deterrence
For members of society who are retentionists and want to keep the death penalty, its deterrent effects are one of their primary arguments. But there is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty deters would-be criminals from their act of violence. Countless studies have shown that the murder rate in the United States has not gone down since the states were allowed to kill in 1976. In reality, the murder rate has increased, due to the brutalization factor that the punishment creates. There should be no doubt that the death penalty is an expensive, brutal, and ineffective deterrent to crime.
Though there isn't much evidence that proves the death penalty deters crime, there is plenty of evidence and studies that prove it does not. The latest FBI Uniform Crime Report shows that in 2000, the national murder rate decreased 3.1 % from 1999, with the smallest decline in the South. The South remains the region with the highest murder......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 651
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |