Study Shows Death Penalty May Be A Deterant

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:14:08 +0000

For years, researchers have been working to determine whether or not the death penalty has any affect on crime rates. A new study from Houston State University claims they have been able to show that homicide rates drop significantly after the state has performed an execution. Their research indicates that at least 60 lives may have been saved in the state last year due to the 24 executions that took place over the course of the year. The declines in homicides seem to be between .5 and 2.5% for the month following an execution.

Researchers say this data is only valid in Texas, as the state is the only one to perform executions on a frequent enough basis to show statistically significant results. Skeptics are still wary of the data though and claim the results do not take other factors into account and that the number of executions is still not enough to provide accurate survey results. Houston criminal lawyers are among the many people to remain unconvinced of the positive effects of the death penalty. Proponents of the study claim that many people will deny the results solely because they oppose the punishment.

Six people are already scheduled to be executed this year, two just this week.

To read more about the findings, see the article in the Houston Chronicle. Image Via brdavids [Flickr].

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Study Shows Death Penalty May Be A Deterant