Capital Punishment as a Deterrent

Paper Summary:

This paper describes and assesses four scholarly articles which provide arguments either in favor of or in opposition to capital punishment. It briefly explains why one of the sources appears to be the best of the quartet while another seems to flag behind the others. In the end, the paper reveals just how contentious the issue of capital punishment is and how divided the academic community remains even after decades of research.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Opposing Capital Punishment: A Look at Four Scholarly Sources
Facts In Support Of Writer's Position
Facts Opposing This Writer's Position
The Strongest And Weakest Source

From the Paper:

"After carefully reviewing the available evidence, it seems clear that Donohue and Wolfers provide the strongest article of the four insofar as they exhaustively detail the methodological failures which undermine many studies determined to support the validity of capital punishment (although the aforementioned Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd study seems to scrupulously follow the sort of detailed regression analysis that Donohue and Wolfers accuse many pro-death penalty studies of lacking). On the other hand, the Marquis argument appears to be the weakest for the very simple reason that it eschews quantitative research in favor of a more strident, accusatory tone that fails to appreciate that even a few mistaken executions is too many. On the whole, however, the four articles do appear to be a solid beginning to further research and certainly reveal that the evidence does not offer unanimous support to one side or the other."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Donohue, John J., & Wolfers, Justin. (2006). The uses and abuses of empirical evidence in the death penalty debate. Stanford Law Review, 58(3): 791-845. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thompson Gale.
• Ekelund, Robert B., Jackson, John D., Ressler, Rand W., and Tollison, Robert D. (2006). Marginal deterrence and multiple murders. Southern Economic Journal, 72(3): 521-541. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thompson Gale.
• Dezhbakhsh, Hashem, & Shepherd, Joanna M. (July 2006). The deterrent effect of capital punishment: evidence from a "judicial experiment". Economic Inquiry, 44, 512-535. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale.
• Marquis, Joshua. (2005). The myth of innocence. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 95(2): 501-521. Retrieved September 12, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thompson Gale.

More papers on Capital Punishment as a Deterrent:

• Analytical Essay # 12368 : "Capital Punishment As A Deterrent"
• Research Proposal # 128588 : "Capital Punishment as Deterrent"
• Argumentative Essay # 89650 : "Capital Punishment in a Liberal State"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: