Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/26/execution.mistake.ap/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06 /26/execution.mistake.ap/index.html</a> It would appear Missouri could have done exactly that 12 years ago. Potentially excuplatory witnesses weren't contacted, and he maintained his innocence to the end. This is one main reason why I'm not for the death penalty. It hasn't been any kind of effective deterrence, and does nothing for the victim. Better to err on the side of caution.
Originally Posted By DAR So I take it, it's not this guy? <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070625/od_nm/execution_texas_dc;_ylt=AkeZui2XuF03NezvROg.zJPMWM0F" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200 70625/od_nm/execution_texas_dc;_ylt=AkeZui2XuF03NezvROg.zJPMWM0F</a>
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <This is one main reason why I'm not for the death penalty. It hasn't been any kind of effective deterrence, and does nothing for the victim. Better to err on the side of caution.< to a point I agree, if there is some doubt at all, but some cases are that cut and dried - as for instance, would Charles Manson not have been a good candidate - no doubt that he did it, proud that he did it....and the drain on society since.....
Originally Posted By jonvn I recently read that they've found that the death penalty actually is a deterrent....let me see if I can find what I did with that snippet.
Originally Posted By jonvn Here it is. This is the opposite of what you always hear: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3263838&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS tory?id=3263838&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 That's a strange study. It claims to show that the death penalty deters murders, but it doesn't show how (at least in the linked story), which is a pretty big hole. From the link: "To explore the question, they look at executions and homicides, by year and by state or county, trying to tease out the impact of the death penalty on homicides by accounting for other factors, such as unemployment data and per capita income, the probabilities of arrest and conviction, and more." This alone raises a red flag to me. It's long been known that states with the death penalty do not have lower murder rates than those that do, and that in cases where a particular state had it then abolished it (or vice versa), there seems to be no correlation either (sometimes the murder rate goes up, sometimes it goes down, sometimes it stays the same). Knowing that, I'm not sure where in the world this study gets its conclusions from.
Originally Posted By Main Street Dad <<The recidivism rate among executed criminals is very low.>> Excellent point.
