The death penalty is not a deterrent. I  examined the death rate per 100,000 people for each state in the United States. The safest state to live is North Dakota with only 0.5 murders per 100,000 people whereas the most dangerous place to live is Louisiana with 11.9 murders per 100,000 people in 2008. Well at least that is better than in 1996 when they had 17.5 murders per 100,000 people.

It is interesting to average the murder rate for death penalty states versus states without a death penalty. If the death penalty is a deterrent then the death rate in the death penalty states should be lower. The rates for 2008 where:

The murder rate in Death Penalty States was 5.2 murders per 100,000 people.

The murder rate in states without the death penalty was 3.3 per 100,000 people.

It is clear from this evidence that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder.

Source:   www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

See larger image The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence (Paperback) By (author) Frank R. Baumgartner, Suzanna L. De Boef, Amber E. Boydstun List Price: $23.99 USD New From: $11.51 In Stock Used from: $9.00 In Stock