Is the death penalty an effective deterrent to murder?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is Main points:
• The idea that the death penalty deters murder is hard to test and prove.
• Those states that do have the death penalty also tend to have higher murder rates.
• There is no indication that murder rates change in response to death penalty abolition or reinstatement.
• However, there are some indications of possible brutalization effect when murders spike after highly publicized executions.
• Thus, there is a substantial body of research that shows no deterrence effect.
• Moreover, the alternative to the death penalty is often life in prison. It is not clear if life in prison has a lower deterrent value than the death penalty.
• In addition, most capital murders are crimes of passion, which makes it unlikely that the killers would pause to rationally consider the likelihood of apprehension, conviction, and sentencing.

Is the Death Penalty an Effective Deterrent to Murder