I was interviewed by Kentucky NPR recently to discuss the conservative case against the death penalty, the state of capital punishment in Kentucky, and our appearance at the Young Americans for Liberty Kentucky state convention. When asked about the deterrence properties of the death penalty, I said,
For every 100 murders, one of those results in a death sentence. So that’s one percent. Now, even fewer of that one percent actually are executed. So you have to ask yourself, would you be deterred by a half a percentage of a chance of you being executed 20-30 years after you make a terrible crime. I just don’t buy into that. There are no deterrent properties.