Myth 6: The death penalty is an effective deterrent to violent crimes
FACT: There is no convincing evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime. Many murders take place when the perpetrators are under great emotional stress, or under the influence of drugs – times when they are not considering the consequences.
Research has consistently shown that the death penalty does not deter crime more effectively than other punishments.
A 1988 United Nations research report found: "...it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment".
In Canada, the homicide rate actually fell by 40 per cent in the three decades following 1975, the year before the death penalty for murder was abolished. Research from other countries has failed to show that repealing the death penalty causes an increase in crime rates.
The use of the death penalty cannot be credited with making societies any safer.