Death Penalty

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer maintains that although polls must be seen only as a reflection, it is clear that Americans see death as a justifiable punishment for the worst sorts of criminal homicides. As a result, the writer notes that the controversy of whether or not this is a deterrent against crime rages on and on. The writer points out that opponents continue to conduct studies to prove that one crime does not make up for another, while proponents continue to conduct studies to justify their belief system. Following a review of relevant literature the writer concludes that there is no consistency among the studies that are done to determine the impact of the death penalty.

From the Paper:

"Mendes and McDonald thus argued that the empirical ambiguity with respect to sentence severity arises because sometimes the empirical formulation of deterrence theory fails to keep the theoretical package intact. Especially, statistical models that isolate the components through the use of separate, additive elements do not account for the expected cost calculation as specified in the theory. Sentence length does not work apart from the probability of arrest and conviction. Instead, the three elements work together."
"Neither certainty nor severity of punishment can substitute for the other...any deterrent impact of certainty depends on the level of severity. Most likely, severity by itself cannot replace certainty, but the opposite is equally true. Models that do not reflect the combination of all deterrence elements fail to translate the theory and are likely to fall short of finding a significant effect for all of the components."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dezhbakhsh, H., Rubin, P. and Shepherd, J. (2003) Does capital punishment have a deterrent Effect? American Law and Economics Review, 344.
• Donohue, J. and Wolfers, J. (2005) Uses and abuses of empirical evidence in the death penalty debate. Stanford Law Review 58.3 791-863.
• Ehrlich, I. (1975). The deterrent effect of capital punishment: A question of life and death. NBER Working Paper Series, 18.
• Forst, B. (1983). Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Conflicting Evidence. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 74, 927
• Galliher, J. and Galliher, J. (2001/2002) Criminology: A commonsense theory of deterrence and the ideology of science. The New York State Death Penalty Debate Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 92, 107.

More papers on Death Penalty:

• Research Paper # 93369 : "Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty"
• Persuasive Essay # 142258 : "The Death Penalty Back in Canada"
• Argumentative Essay # 88589 : "Death Penalty Argument"
• Argumentative Essay # 88667 : "The Death Penalty in 21st Century America"

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