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We're in surprising company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_co... S

• viggity 12y ago
  Does prison time deter murders? I'm guessing no, considering the death penalty apparently doesn't. Does that mean should we not send murders to prison? My rationale for supporting the death penalty is justice. If you, with malice and forethought end the life of another human being, you don't deserve to live. In practice, there issues with it, but I don't think it should be written off completely, just held to the highest burden of proof provided by the law.
  • dllthomas 12y ago
    The death penalty does deter murders, just not any more than a long prison term. And a long prison term doesn't deter crime much more than a medium length prison term. The thing that deters crime most dramatically is a high perceived likelihood of being caught. If we moved money away from killing people and into improved policing, we might wind up with less crime. Should we send murderers to prison at all? Of course - it deters crime (and murder is an awfully important kind of crime to deter). Should we send murderers to prison for so long that the marginal increase in deterrence is tiny? Maybe, maybe not - that depends on just what the increase is, just what the costs are, just what the recidivism rate is, and how these things change over time.