Half of all murders are committed while under the influence of drugs or during an argument (U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs: American Indians and Crime) and as such not subject to rational thought. If the extra deterrent of the death penalty over LWOP were to deter these impulsive murderers it would have to do so subconsciously. However, it is difficult to believe that if the moral teaching of ‘do not murder’ has no effect in these situations, that the extra deterrent of the death penalty has.



Let us return to our rational would-be-murderer. The only ones deterred are those who think: “I won’t murder as I could be executed, but if the maximum sentence was LWOP I would”. Is this a likely thought? And what does a rational thinker conclude when the possibility of being executed is so low? Annually, there are 22,000 murders in the U.S. and only 60 executions (this statistic has been used to demand an expansion for the death penalty, but I believe most of the problem is due to the poor arrest and conviction record). True rational thinkers would also pay attention to the mitigating and aggravating factors applicable in their region in an attempt to mould their murder to prevent the option of a death sentence.



The above discussion is over the likelihood of the death penalty being a deterrent to individuals. There are in fact documented cases of criminals stating that the existence of the death penalty was a factor in their thinking: Larry Derryberry, "It Is The Fear That Death May Be The Punishment That Deters", Police Digest, Spring/Summer 1973, p.27, col.2. ; "Langley says Texas death penalty affected his actions during escape", by Stephen Martin, The Daily Democrat (Ft. Madison, Iowa), 1/8/97. I have not been able to read these articles (if anyone knows where they can be found I would be grateful for their help), but it appears that are several cases where people have restrained themselves for fear of the death penalty.



The Honourable B. Rey Shauer, former Justice of the Supreme Court of California, has said



"That the ever present potentiality in California of the death penalty, for murder in the commission of armed robbery, each year saves the lives of scores, if not hundreds of victims of such crimes, I cannot think, can reasonably be doubted by any judge who has had substantial experience at the trial court level with the handling of such persons. I know that during my own trial court experience...included some four to five years (1930-1934) in a department of the superior court exclusively engaged in handling felony cases, I repeatedly heard from the lips of robbers...substantially the same story: 'I used a toy gun [or a simulated gun or a gun in which the firing pin or hammer had been extracted or damaged] because I didn't want my neck stretched.' (The penalty, at the time referred to, was hanging.)"