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From: daemon@ucbvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.politics
Subject: Re: rescue and punishment
Message-ID: <12226926846.16.MCGREW@RED.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 30-Jul-86 20:35:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: RED.12226926846.16.MCGREW
Posted: Wed Jul 30 20:35:09 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 31-Jul-86 17:24:26 EDT
Reply-To: dione!david
Organization: The ARPA Internet
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Return-Path: <david@rice.edu>
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 86 11:56:18 CDT
From: David Callahan <david@rice.edu>
Subject: Re: rescue and punishment
Reply-To: david@dione.UUCP (David Callahan)
Organization: Rice University, Houston, Texas

In article kfl@mx.lcs.mit.edu@mc.lcs.mit.edu writes:
>
>    The rationale for punishment of any kind is to send a message to
>    the perpetrator which must be taken seriously.
>
>  I am not sure what this means.  I see the purposes as:
>
>1) Preventing the crook from doing the crime again, at least while
>   (if) he is locked up.
>2) Deterring him from doing crimes after (if) he is released.
>3) Deterring others from doing crimes.
>
>   The death penalty certainly fulfils all three.  
>

Can you reference any study which establishes that the death penaly
deters crime (particularly murder)? This is an often stated defence of
capital punishment which is seldom backup up with evidence.

david
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