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Entry: Fads, Tradition, and Real Knowledge Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/fads_tradition_and_real_knowledge#24379 Post contents: Sir, the question, whether capital punishment is a deterrent or not, has been answered in the great british experiment of the late eighteenhundreds. It is not. Legally prescribed punishment acts as a deterrent, if it is seen as hurtful in relation to the profit inherent in the prohibited act and if there is perceived high probability of punishment. The british, in the course of a few dozen years got rid of capital punishment for almost all offenses thus punished in the late eighteenhundreds - because it did not work "pour encourager les autres". Talking of studies: why don't you study, where this deeply cynical expression came from? There is a sufficient number of countries without capital punishment where the murder rate is lower than in certain countries with capital punishment to exemplify that point. Not killing criminals does not mean letting the off free either - other punishments are deterrent enough. More and more I am amazed by what can be said by Takimag's authors. How about a lectorate to deter the worst excesses of "common sense"? Perhaps some peer review before publication? Sent at: 2008 07 20