Do executions deter would-be murderers?

[noxibox]

Steven Levitt's Freakonomics illustates how experts try to explain phenomenons with logical answers which, on the surface, appear quite plausible and are sold on to the public wholesale.

A big problem is that social phenomena are very complicated, just like economics in the real world. Or the weather. There are so many things that contribute to the effects we see.

The very fact that these alleged experts scrabbled to cobble together a logical explanation shows the weakness of the foundations of their earlier predictions.

 

[Ozymandias]

A big problem is that social phenomena are very complicated, just like economics in the real world. Or the weather. There are so many things that contribute to the effects we see.

The very fact that these alleged experts scrabbled to cobble together a logical explanation shows the weakness of the foundations of their earlier predictions.

I agree. Making predictions is not an exact science. Explaining events, though, should be less difficult because there is a wealth of data at hand as evidence. Maybe the weakness of the experts is that they can make claims, no matter how wild, without a similar peer review system applied in the scientific world.

I would still hazard a guess that some experts might be biased and use the conclusion they seek as the starting point and only acknowledge the evidence that satisfies that bias.

 

[Sneeky]

So, if I understand you correctly, since cost are an important issue, there's no need to waste money on trials and lawyers, and even investigators. If someone looks guilty, shoot them!

I asked you to clarify why you say it is cheaper than execution? You haven't as yet!

As for trials and the legal system, it is no secret that this system favours those that can afford to pay more than others on such fees.

Do executions deter would-be murderers?

Judging from the initial question asked, the discussion was based entirely around the fact that the person was convicted already, and would the punishment of execution act as a deterrent for other would be offenders. We were talking about punishment, not trials.

So its cheaper why?

 

[Claymore]

I asked you to clarify why you say it is cheaper than execution? You haven't as yet!

Actually, I have - please see post #40.

To go into a bit more detail: in the US, typical time on Death Row is around 15 years. Typical life sentence, with parole, is around the same. Death Row prisoners, however, typically have more appeals against conviction and sentence. They are also kept in soltary, as I understand, and not in shared cells; I'm sure that raises costs too. Then there's the cost of execution too too, and I'm sure thats not too cheap.

 

[Sneeky]

I see your point claymore but that is due to the legal system itself, but the process is no doubt very costly.
The guy that killed that little boy the other day, appeared multiple times for similar offences, including abusing his own children. Take him out back and put a bullet in his head, end of story.
The law, at times, makes a mockery of justice it seems.

 

[Moederloos]

I see your point claymore but that is due to the legal system itself, but the process is no doubt very costly.
The guy that killed that little boy the other day, appeared multiple times for similar offences, including abusing his own children. Take him out back and put a bullet in his head, end of story.
The law, at times, makes a mockery of justice it seems.

We need a bit of biblical about face in SA.
Rather than "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", we rather need "do unto others as they would do to you" in the case of these monsters.

 

[Claymore]

I see your point claymore but that is due to the legal system itself, but the process is no doubt very costly.
The guy that killed that little boy the other day, appeared multiple times for similar offences, including abusing his own children. Take him out back and put a bullet in his head, end of story.
The law, at times, makes a mockery of justice it seems.

Look, I'm inclined to agree there. But I would rather that *everyone* follows the same legal processes, otherwise we could get to the point where people are summarily executed because they were near the scene, or because of trumped-up evidence.

 

[Claymore]

The Freakonomics guys have a recent post on their blog on the topic:
Does the death penalty really reduce crime?

 

[arf9999]

nd several argue that there are simply too few executions each year in the United States to make a judgment.

‘Flimsy’ studies?
“We just don’t have enough data to say anything,” said Justin Wolfers, an economist at the Wharton School of Business who last year co-authored a sweeping critique of several studies, and said they were “flimsy” and appeared in “second-tier journals.”

“This isn’t left vs. right. This is a nerdy statistician saying it’s too hard to tell,” Wolfers said.

This was my first feeling when reading the title of the thread. How can you draw statistical conclusions in such a large population with such a small sample?