Quote Originally Posted by rudy gestede View Post
The states in the US with the death penalty have a higher crime rate the the states without it so if your one point is that it’s a deterrent you’ve already lost.
I believe murderers deserve to die. If executing murderers reduces murder then that is a plus but it is not my reason for believing in capital punishment for murder.

Your claim about different crime rates in states with and without the death penalty might be true. I don't know. But after a quick look a map showing which states have the death penalty I can see that the non-death penalty states are mainly in the north and they are on average more prosperous than the death penalty states. There is usually more crime and murder in poorer places. There are far more variables involved in this difference in crime rates other than the presence or absence of capital punishment. But who knows how much more crime you would have in these poor places if they didn't have capital punishment.

Every sane person knows the death penalty is a deterrent. Think about someone you really hate and want to kill. You are an eighteen year old and in one universe you can kill this person and serve about 15 years in the relative discomfort of a prison. When you come out at 33 you are still a young man. In the second universe you kill and then you are executed. Your life is over before it has really started. Far more people would be tempted to kill in the first universe.