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Capital Punishment Not Likely A Murder Deterrent: Study

By Steve Hall

That's the headline at the Crime Report from John Jay College's Center on Media, Crime and Justice.  LINKContrary to the common belief that capital punishment deters murderers, a study by Tomislav Kovandzic, Lynne Vieraitis, and Denise Paquette Boots of the University of Texas at Dallas concludes that most offenders do not likely weigh the costs and benefits of crime and are not likely to be deterred by the existence of the death penalty. Many homicides are committed when offenders are under extreme emotional duress and are unlikely to be thinking of the legal sanctions. The study, in the November 2009 issue of the journal Criminology and Public Policy, edited at Florida State University, says that for the death penalty to serve as a deterrent, the probability of getting caught and punished must be greater than any benefit the offender could achieve from committing the crime...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on December 03, 2009 (boomark / email).