Does the death penalty act as a deterent?

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Please see response attached. I hope this helps and take care.

UPDATED MAY 22, 2009: Death Penalty Debate

See death rate statistics for south and north to determine if the murder rates are lower in states that have the death penalty than those that do nto. If so, this lends support that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. If not, then the opposite is true. (see http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-about-deterrence-and-death-penalty for murder statistics by state and region, which also includes other death penalty information to consider)

Most research argues against this statement, mainly that there is not evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent.

Opponents: The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence:

1. The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence: John Donohue and Justin Wolfers argue that Gary Becker and Richard Posner are wrong to think that the death penalty deters murder: they find little empirical support for the claim. If anything, when one looks over the longest period possible (1934-2000) there is more evidence that the death penalty stimulates murder than that it deters murder. (Source: Donohue, John and Wolfers, Justin J. (2006) "The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence," The Economists' Voice: Vol. 3 : Iss. 5, Article 3. DOI: 10.2202/1553-3832.1170. Available May 22, 2009, from at: http://www.bepress.com/ev/vol3/iss5/art3)

2. The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence: In an article entitled The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence, John Donnohue and Justin Wolfers examined recent statistical studies that claimed to show a deterrent effect from the death penalty. The authors conclude that the estimates claiming that the ...