Does Capital Punishment Deter Would-be Murderers?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070611/ap_on_re_us/death_penalty_deterrence

Apparently, recent studies (led by an individual against the death penalty) say "yes". They estimate that each executed criminal prevents about eighteen murders.

Wow. I am, frankly, stunned that empirical date supports this conclusion. Frankly, I figured that murderers fell into two categories: Killers who are too stupid to intelligently weigh their actions, and Killers who believe they can get away with it, and aren't going to be deterred by punishments they believe themselves unlikely to receive.

I used to be very strongly pro-death penalty, but in recent years have changed my position radicially. I no longer believe that the death penalty can be fairly and rationally imposed under the current judicial framework. I would bet all of my worldly possession that the federal/state(s) government(s) has executed an individual for a crime they did not commit within the last fifty years.

If we want to keep the death penalty, I would propose the following:

1. The killer must be an adult.

Only adults should be eligible. If we want to arbitrarily set the age of adulthood at eighteen, then we should live with the decision made by our elected officials. If you aren't old enough to vote, you aren't old enough to be executed.

2. Raise the standard of proof.

For life in prison without possibility of parole, I think that "beyond a reasonable doubt" is just fine. If you are unfairly convicted, you have a chance of fresh evidence resulting in your release. This happens on occasion. If you've been executed, you're out of luck. If someone is to be subject to the death penalty, I propose that the standard should be "guilty to a knowable certainty". Basically, a juror/judge has to be as sure that someone is guilty as you are of the sun rising tomorrow before the accused is eligible for the death penalty.

3. Stop executing the mentally incompetent.

It is shameful and embarassing that we execute the mentally ill. If there is a question as to whether someone is competent or not, see Rule "2", above (only in the narrow context of whether or not they should be eligible for the death penalty).


I'm sure I could think of a few more problems, but that seems like a good start. To be quite frank, I don't think the U.S. justice system is capable of applying the death penalty in a fair and equitable manner, so I'd rather see it scrapped altogether (which won't happen).