Interesting numbers (from a USCHO post of mine):

Let's compare (based on the FBI's UCR data):

Murders per 100,000 in 1999 in law-and-order, capital-punishment, concealed-carry-legal Texas: 6.1

In liberal, no-death-penalty, tough-gun-laws Massachusetts: 2.0

Now, this is all clearly anecdotal, and there are four states (IA, ID, NH, and ND) with equal or lower rates. But until someone comes up with decent statistics showing that capital punishment is an effective deterrent, I really don't see how anyone can make an argument for the death penalty that doesn't fall back on Judeo-Christian morality. And that argument is so weak that even the Pope doesn't buy it.
posted by James at 1/2/2001 11:01:03 PM