[KenWittlief]

there is a big difference between the effectiveness of capitol punishment as a deterrent to crime, and the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in any given nation or society.

Crime is an antisocial activity that carries consequences. Many people will balance the rewards of committing a crime against the potential punishment, and then decide to proceed or turn away.

It took me 20 years to earn $1M salary as an engineer. Are there other ways I could have gotten $1M in less time?

I could have worked as an engineering consultant in the middle east, and gotten 5X my salary per year, tax free. So I could have gotten $1M in 4 years instead of 20. But the risk to my life, and the loss of freedom to spend my off time doing what I want with my friends and family kept me from taking that path.

I could have stolen the money, for example, by getting 100 credit cards, and taking a $10,000 cash advance on each one, then skipping town and refusing to pay it back: ie, stealing the money. How many years would I spend in prison if I got caught? how many years did Martha Steward spend in prison for the amount she leached from the stock market? less than 20 for sure, less than 4? A year with good behavior?

The point is, we all know from our personal experience, if the penalty is too great we will not risk the activity. To say that capitol punishment is not a deterrent to crime is silliness.

The manner in which capitol punishment is administered in this country, the way its used, and the amount of time it takes to carry out the sentence may make it ineffective as a deterrent, but that does not mean capitol punishment itself is not effective. It simply means our justice system is inept.