Death Penalty Thesis

Authorities agree that the Death Penalty in the United States deters crime and reduces the number of murders. The Death Penalty needs to be consistently implemented or else the number of murders and homicides committed will be on the rise. A notable amount of homicides will be prevented when it is constantly enforced. Former Supreme Court Justice Marshall McComb revealed the files of the Los Angeles Police Department to display the deterrent effect of the Death Penalty on savage criminals. There are plenty of examples of murders not committed because of the deterrent effect the Death Penalty has on criminals (Jacoby). In 1973, Isaac Ehrlich, an American economist who did extensive research on the deterrent effects of the Death Penalty, conducted
Margaret Elizabeth Daly, a woman who attacked Pete Gibbons with a knife, told authorities, “yeah, I cut him, and I should have done a better job. I would have killed him, but I didn’t want to go to the gas chamber” (qtd. Jacoby). When Daly said she did not want to go to the gas chamber, Margret meant that she did not want to get the death penalty. In 2004, Michael Summers, professor of management science, conducted a study that examined the relationship between the number of executions and the number of murders for a 26 year period from 1979 to 2004. The study revealed that when execution increase, the murders will decrease. In the early 1980s, the return of the Death Penalty was associated with the drop in murder rate. Since 2001, there has been a decrease in executions and an increase in murders. Naci Mocan, Professor and Chair of economics at Louisiana State University, investigated the impact of an execution, homicide arrest rate, commutation rates and the death penalty. He found a significant relationship among execution, commutation rates, and the rate of homicide. Mocan revealed that each execution decreases homicides, and one additional removal from death row generates another homicide
An example of this is letting a parking meter expired which is a penalty of twenty dollars or parking in a handicap spot which is a penalty of 200 dollars. The penalty on the handicap spot would have a more deterrent effect because it’s costlier and has a more severe punishment than the parking meter penalty (Jacoby). Modern referred studies have consistently shown the strong deterrent effect of the Death Penalty. Each execution deters between three and eighteen murders. Most criminals respond to sanctions and execution is the most severe sanction possible (“Does”). The cost of the Death Penalty may be somewhat high, but the deterrent effect yields a much more valuable benefit because it saves lives. A psychologist names David Lester of Richard Stockton College conducted a comprehensive review and study of capital punishment research. Since 1975, almost all of the studies tracking effects of the Death Penalty have found deterrent effect (Muhlhausen). In California, there are currently 746 inmates in death row. Legal appeals and procedures make executions nearly impossible in the state. Studies have shown that the majority of Californians favor the Death Penalty. The state of California has not executed a criminal in ten years even with 746 inmates in death