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To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (3674)	3/20/2002 12:28:43 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

The cost/benefit issue is distorted by the enormous amount of effort put into the appeal process. I agree that the appeals process is a huge cost item and that we should get rid of it. There are two ways to get rid of it. One is to severely limit appeals. The cleaner way to get rid of the appeals is to get rid of capital punishment. That would knock it out that huge cost immediately. One problem with computing the costs is that so many of them are unknown and unknowable. We can estimate the cost of appeals. But we don't have a clue as to the cost in terms of, say, international relations. What did the State Department have to give up to get a certain wanted criminal extradited? Whatever it was, it might have cost us a battle in the terrorism war. We have no way of knowing some of the costs. The death penalty affects the system in complex ways. I remember when they made kidnapping a capital offense. You may recall the discussion at the time. I recall wondering whether a kidnapper would be more or less likely to release a victim under those circumstances. Duh! I think a case could be made for restricting the death penalty to the murder of police officials. That would limit the costs dramatically and likely have real deterrent effect. Karen

To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (3674)	3/20/2002 4:02:19 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

I'm not saying that is right, and my heart goes out to them, but I will save the bulk of my sympathies for all those cops getting slaughtered year in and out. Is there any reason to believe that speedy executions will have any impact on the number of cops being killed? I have seen no data suggesting that imposing capital punishment on a jurisdiction that previously did not have it results in decreased crime rates, and none suggesting that removing such punishment from a jurisdiction that formerly imposed it results in any increase in crime. I see no reason not to consider these as completely separate issues.