[Vision2020] Study says Death Penalty IS a Deterent

[Donovan Arnold]

  Andreas,
   
  You can try to discredit the results of legitimate scientific research but it doesn't make the results any less true. The lead researcher was against the death penalty. I am against the death penalty in almost every case. But it would be wrong to ignore the scientific data that killing people for murder acts as a deterrent for some not to commit murder. 
   
  Just because the death penalty deters potential murderers from killing, doesn't mean that it is always the right or moral thing to do. If killing an innocent person for a murder they didn't commit reduced future murders that would not justify the action either. 
   
  I think you are incorrect to discredit all who are not in the criminal justice field from having valid input into the impacts of the death penalty. Economics studies social behavior and makes empirical observations about social behavior. The death penalty is very much a social issue.  
   
  What we should not do, I think ever, is ignore the truth of scientific research for political expedience, or because it doesn't fit nicely into what we wish, want to believe, or goes against the social changes we would like to make. If you have data that refutes these findings, please site them. 
   
  Best,
   
  Donovan

   
   
  

Andreas Schou <ophite at gmail.com> wrote:
  

  On 6/10/07, Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:     How about that? According to scientific research the death penalty saves 3-18 lives per execution.
  
In a series of studies conducted and published by economics professors. A general knowledge of statistics does not an expert on criminal justice make. This seems virtually identical to the conservative physicists, chemists, and economists that suddenly becom experts on climatology when questioned about global warming. 

-- ACS







       
---------------------------------
Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20070610/7afabadd/attachment.html