From: "Richard Loweth", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Perhaps the reality is that the death penalty was never a deterrent to
murder...after all when you murder someone you do it presuming that you
actually won't get caught....so the "tariff" is irrelevant, but a deterrent
to crimes of violence. What is probably certain is that the abolition of the
act whereby if one member of a gang committed a murder ALL were guilty of it
and thus ALL hanged did lead to a rise in murder during the course of armed
robberies by gangs.
On the other hand in the US the belief that kidnapping was a capital offence
directly led to the murder documented in the book "The Onion Field".
--
Believe me, the death penalty is a deterrent to the person
who gets it! I just think life in prison is worse.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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