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The Death Penalty - Does it Really Deter?

By "Persian Cowboy"

One of the most referred-to arguments by proponents of the death penalty is that of deterrence, the idea that when people are executed by the death penalty, other are discouraged from committing crimes that warrant death as a punishment. This is made on the behalf of social utility ? we should do that which benefits society most. Death penalty retentionists who base their arguments on social utility suggest that society benefits in that the death penalty 1), punishes those they believe are ?irreformable?, and 2), that it is a deterrent to crime, (Mappes and Zembaty 108) at that a greater one than any other form of punishment save torture, which is banned as ?cruel and unusual punishment? under the Fourteenth Amendment. Whether the death penalty is itself cruel and unusual punishment is another question, but the idea that the death penalty is a successful deterrent is, though perhaps the most often-cited reason for the usefulness of capital punishment, simply a fallacy...continue to full post

Full post as published by Texas Death Penalty Blog on January 11, 2008 (boomark / email).