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Study: 88% of criminologists do not believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent

A recent study by Professor Michael Radelet and Traci Lacock of the University of Colorado found that 88% of the nation?s leading criminologists do not believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime. The study, Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates? The Views of Leading Criminologists, published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Crimonology, concluded, ?There is overwhelming consensus among America?s top criminologists that the empirical research conducted on the deterrence question fails to support the threat or use of the death penalty.? A previous study in 1996 had come to similar conclusions. The criminologists surveyed included - 1) Fellows in the American Society of Criminology (ASC), (2) Winners of the ASC?s Sutherland Award, the highest award given by that organization for contributions to criminological theory, or (3) Presidents of the ASC between 1997 and the present...continue to full post

Full post as published by Lethal Injection on August 10, 2009 (boomark / email).