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4). They contend that most people on death row know they will not face execution, but will draw the legal fight out with appeals for as long as possible, and so, the death penalty is not a deterrent for them or others, because of the unlikelihood it will ever actually be carried out.
In addition, researchers argue that it is impossible to determine true deterrence with using time or similar defendants and punishment, there is no scientific way to conduct these tests effectively. Another researcher writes, "We have not been and never will be able to verify the deterrent effect of executions by conducting a 'controlled' scientific experiment, which would randomly assign either execution or some term of years to similarly situated defendants in similarly situated jurisdictions" (Steiker, 2005). In short, there is no real, reliable model to determine how many lives might be saved by executing prisoners, because each case is different, and the data used are simply too variable. The subject is controversial for any number of reasons, but more and more studies seem to indicate that capital punishment does not deter murder, and in fact, it may actually add to the risk of murder. Some people believe it is because as society murders its criminals for their acts, society becomes more accustomed to the act of murder, and tends to take it less seriously. The empirical evidence indicates that capital punishment does not deter criminals from committing murder, and that the capital punishment system is flawed for numerous reasons. Life imprisonment provides a deterrent without the moral objections that capital punishment brings.
Donohue and Wolfers also completed their own study of homicide executions from 1934 through 2000, and found that executions actually negatively impacted lifesaving. They write, "The resulting four estimates for the longer data period: -1.5, -1.5, -1.7, -1.0, now uniformly suggesting no benefit from executions (an estimate of -1 implies that no murders were deterred and one life was lost by virtue of the execution)" (Donohue & Wolfers, 2006, p. 4). These results reversed a similar study completed over a shorter time span, and the authors believe this skewed the result because capital punishment was much more prevalent in the earlier part of the 20th century, which the study did not include. There study included earlier years, and they believe that made it more complete and correct.
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References
Donohue, J.J. And Wolfers, J. (2006). The death penalty: No evidence for deterrence. Retrieved 20 April 2009 from the Death Penalty Info.org Web site: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/DonohueDeter.pdf. 1-6.
Editors. (2008). Capital punishment statistics. Retrieved 20 April 2009 from the U.S. Department of Justice Web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm.
Grant, R. (2004, January/February). Capital punishment and violence. The Humanist, 64, 25+.
Haney, C. (2005). Death by design: Capital punishment as social psychological system. New York: Oxford University Press.
Criminal Justice: The Death Penalty Reasons for topic selection Causes of racial prejudice and discrimination Juvenile in delinquent society theory Culture and values Official and unofficial values The effectiveness of the death penalty The death penalty is irreversible The death penalty is barbaric Changes to the death sentence Implemented changes Sentencing guidelines Bifurcated trials Automatic appellate conviction review Proportionality review The importance of proposed changes Anticipated outcome Life imprisonment; alternative to death sentences The costs Decency standards Overall efficiency Policies in support of incarceration Conclusion References Background Despite the controversy over how effective it is
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