Deterrence or Brutalization

Abstract

In this study, we find that in New York State over the period 1907-63 there were, on the average, two additional homicides in the month after an execution. Controls for time trends, seasonality, the effects of war, and adjustments for autocorrelation tend to confirm this finding. Such a "brutalizing" effect of executions is consistent with research on violent events such as publicized suicides, mass murders, and assassinations; with previous studies of the long-term effects of the availability and use of capital punishment; and with a small number of investigations of the short-term impact of executions in the days, weeks, and months that fol low. This suggests that the message of executions is one of "lethal ven geance" more than deterrence. The resulting sacrifice of human life chal lenges the constitutionality of capital punishment.