ABSTRACT
Chapter 12, “Consequences of Capital Punishment,” demonstrates why the death penalty is unjustified on consequentialist grounds. Consequentialist defenders of the death penalty assume that the severity of a punishment is directly correlated with the power to deter and that potential murderers are thinking rationally, neither of which supported by the evidence. Econometric studies that purport to show a deterrent effect are based on questionable methodologies that undermine their internal and external validity. This chapter examines those studies in detail to show how a slight shift in their assumptions can lead to wildly different results. By contrast, many comparative studies over many years show no additional deterrent effect of the death penalty compared to life imprisonment. There is a lot of evidence that the death penalty does not deter, and no reliable evidence that it does. Given the enormous cost of capital cases, the most reasonable public policy would be to use more efficient and effective methods, such as increased policing, to reduce crime.
