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Muhlhausen, David. “The Death Penalty Deters Crime and Saves Lives,” Heritage Foundation.
August 28, 2007. www. heritage.org
In “The Death Penalty Deters Crime and Saves Lives,” David Muhlhausen argues that the
death penalty should be a legal punishment in the United States. Mulhausen begins his argument
by citing statistics that show an overwhelming public support for the death penalty. Mulhausen
writes that from the year “2000 to the most recent poll in 2006, support for capital punishment
consistently runs a 2:1 ratio in favor” (1). Put another way, Americans seem to favor the death
penalty as a fit punishment for certain heinous crimes. Mulhausen then maintains that the federal
criminal justice system that oversees capital punishment is blind to race. While a quick glance at
inmate populations might lead one to believe that the federal system is plagued with racism,
Mulhausen contends that there is “little rigorous evidence that such disparities exist in the federal
system,” and that decisions to proceed with capital punishment are “driven by characteristics of
crimes rather than by race” (1, 2). Since race does not play into the decision for a jury to commit
a defendant to death, Mulhausen believes that capital punishment should be permissible. Finally,
Mulhausen argues that the death penalty actually deters crime. Recent studies, Mulhausen
writes, “consistently demonstrate a strong link between executions and reduce murder incidents”
(2). In fact, having capital punishment as a legal deterrent actually seems to save lives. One
long-term study found that each execution “prevents the murder of one white person, 1.5
African-Americans, and .5 persons of other races” (3). In other words, Mulhausen argues that
fewer murders are committed because criminals are afraid of receiving the death penalty. In
short, Mulhausen argues that the death penalty should not be abolished because the system is not
racist and that such a system actually helps save innocent lives.