On Nov. 28, Tara Stroll wrote a column in favor of the death penalty (“The death penalty affirms the value of life,” page 7). One of the major flaws in Stroll’s argument is her statement that the death penalty deters crime due to the threat it poses to potential murderers. First of all, when someone commits a crime, he or she usually does it with the intent of not being caught. Based on common sense, the death penalty would not deter crime, simply because criminals don’t think through the consequences of their crime so thoroughly. Secondly, if Stroll had looked a little closer at the information put out by the Death Penalty Information Center, she might have found that there is, in fact, a direct correlation between the increase in murder rates and the use of the death penalty. The most recent DPIC 2003 report states that the collective murder rate (the number of murders per 100,000 people) in states with the death penalty is 44 percent higher than in states that do not use the death penalty. In 1992 and 1993, this gap remained steady at 10 percent, but when Kansas and New York adopted the death penalty (in 1994 and 1995, respectively), the gap jumped to over 40 percent. Rather than deterring crime, the death penalty clearly increases it.

Stroll also uses a quote from Genesis in her argument, which she interprets as support for the death penalty. If we’re going to focus on concepts from the Bible, it might be a good idea to take a look at one of its most well known quotes, “Do unto others what you would have them do to you,” (Matthew 7:12). Obviously, death row inmates have not followed that advice, but putting them to death in response to their crimes is starkly hypocritical. In one sentence, Stroll remarks on the importance of affirming life, and in the next she states that “there are some people who just deserve to die.” This contradiction is a clear example of the flaws in the pro-death penalty argument.

Allison McNamara CAS ’07