[ExI] free-will, determinism, crime and punishment

[BillK]

On 8/21/07, gts  wrote:
> As I mentioned to Lee, it is very controversial whether capital punishment
> deters homicide better than prison sentences. In fact there is evidence to
> support the hypothesis that it has the opposite effect. Some researchers
> theorize that capital punishment has a 'brutalization' effect on society
> in those states in which it is legal, an effect which could encourage more
> homicide than otherwise by cheapening the perceived value of human life.
> And unlike any other kinds of punishment, there can of course be no hope
> of rehabilitating a criminal by killing him.
>
> In other words, deterrence and rehabilitation are weak arguments for
> capital punishment. It's mostly about retribution.


Theoretically capital punishment also has economics as an argument.
The cost of a firing squad versus funding years of rehabilitation,
training, operations, psychologists, review boards, etc.  And the risk
that it is all a wasted effort and the criminal will continue to cause
damage to society.

The present US legal system often appears to do both. A life sentence
while appeal after appeal is considered. then after twenty years, an
execution.

BillK