ABSTRACT
One of the most persistent claims for capital punishment is that it deters criminals from shooting or killing policemen. This chapter describes facts regarding the legal status of capital punishment in the world and in the United States as well as the available factual insights into its deterrent effect. It reviews the data and research, particularly Thorsten Sellin's, which shed light on the effect of abolition or restricted use of the death penalty on homicide and crimes of violence. The trend throughout the world, even in the great number of countries that retain the death penalty, is definitely toward a de facto, not a de jure, form of abolition. James A. McCafferty performed the monumental task of analyzing the legal provisions for application of the death penalty in the laws of every state of the United States, the federal government, and the District of Columbia.
