Death penalty saves lives

NY Times:

For the first time in a generation, the question of whether the death penalty deters murders has captured the attention of scholars in law and economics, setting off an intense new debate about one of the central justifications for capital punishment.

According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.

The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly.

The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise. One influential study looked at 3,054 counties over two decades.

“I personally am opposed to the death penalty,” said H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University and an author of a study finding that each execution saves five lives. “But my research shows that there is a deterrent effect.”

The studies have been the subject of sharp criticism, much of it from legal scholars who say that the theories of economists do not apply to the violent world of crime and punishment. Critics of the studies say they are based on faulty premises, insufficient data and flawed methodologies.

...

According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.

The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly.

The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise. One influential study looked at 3,054 counties over two decades.

“I personally am opposed to the death penalty,” said H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University and an author of a study finding that each execution saves five lives. “But my research shows that there is a deterrent effect.”

The studies have been the subject of sharp criticism, much of it from legal scholars who say that the theories of economists do not apply to the violent world of crime and punishment. Critics of the studies say they are based on faulty premises, insufficient data and flawed methodologies.

...

Adam Liptak who wrote the story for the Times leaves out some of the specifics of the studies. For example the murder rate in Illinois went up significantly when the former governor arbitrarily eliminated the death penalty. While Liptak tries to say Texas is an aberration, it is the state with the most aggressive use of the death penalty.

He also tries to use a cost benefits analysis approach by stressing the high cost of capital murder cases putting it at $1 million each. However he overlooks the number of plea bargains that are done by defendants who want to avoid the chance that they will get the death penalty, which saves considerable trial expense. There is also the fact that opponents of the death penalty are the ones primarily responsible for driving up the cost and they should not be allowed to use extortion through litigation expense to effect public policy, especially when the alternative drives up the murder rate significantly.

We should also never forget that the death penalty is 100 percent effective at preventing recidivism when applied. You don't have to be an economist to figure that one out.