4.  Capital Punishment Does Not Deter Crime

[W]e are the only Western democracy that still has capital punishment. In my view it should be abolished. Let me add just this: It does not deter murders. It serves no purpose.”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell (nominated by President Nixon)

Members of the ACADP protest an execution, telling the State "Don't Kill in Our Names"

Supporters of the death penalty argue that it keeps citizens safe.  This is blatantly untrue.  Capital punishment does nothing to keep Arkansans safer.  It does not deter crime.

The last execution in the state occurred in November, 2005.  In the year following that execution, Arkansas experienced 205 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters, according to the FBI. Yet in the following years, despite the fact that no death sentences have been carried out, Arkansas crime rates continued to drop.  In 2009, the last year statistics are available from the FBI, Arkansas experienced 179 murders and non-negligent manslaughters.

A New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in death penalty states was 48% to 100% higher than in non-death penalty states.  A recent poll showed police chiefs rank the death penalty last as a way of reducing violent crime – behind curbing drug abuse, hiring more police officers, and reducing guns on the street.  Eighty seven percent of criminology experts agree that the death penalty fails to deter crime.

This survey of Police Chiefs across the country was conducted by the Death Penalty Information Center.

If the death penalty does not succeed in accomplishing its primary purpose, why is it still being used?

Click Here to read ACADP's "Dumb On Crime" Fact Sheet